Rand Paul: Reform the TSA

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his fight against the Transportation Securities Administration.

Paul said he will very likely refile legislation to drastically scale back the TSA’s reach. It would privatize security screening at airports and create a passenger bill of rights, among other things.

Paul’s commitment to reforming the TSA is not an issue he randomly chose. He introduced a TSA privatization and flier bill of rights legislation last summer after resisting a TSA pat-down caused him to miss a speech at the March for Life rally.

One bill would have ended the TSA screening operation and required airports to choose companies from the private sector to do screening. The other bill would have allowed certain people to opt out of pat-downs, required distribution of a list of fliers’ rights and greatly expanded an expedited screening program for frequent fliers.

Both of Paul’s bills died in the Commerce Committee last year

The senator said the bills he would present to the new Congress would be “similar” to the former bills “unless we get some suggestions on changes.”

Paul senses he may get some help on this issue from across the aisle, but he’s remaining a realist.

“I really think there is some bipartisan support for reforming the TSA,” he said. Then he added, “It’s hard to move anything around here.”