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Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Aviation and Transportation Security Act



The Aviation and Transportation Security Act was established on November 19, 2001 by The United States. One of the main reasons that is was made was because of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the many issues it caused. Many people felt that it wasn't safe to travel through the airlines anymore, so this was made to ensure the safety of all passengers and people. Ken Mead, the general of the department of transportation made ten rules after 9/11. Those rules are "The suspect watch list and intelligence sharing; intensified passenger and carry-on baggage screening; limited access beyond checkpoints; greater use of explosives detection equipment; re validating airport IDs; increasing the law enforcement officer presence at airports; expanding the federal air marshal program; deployment of National Guard Troops; reinforcement of cockpit doors, and better screening of cargo. All of these new changes are extremely costly for the many countries and the airline tickets for the passengers are skyrocketing. With all of these new regulations brings many different issues, arguments, and concerns throughout the whole world, though they are both good and bad.


There is pretty much only one good asset of The Aviation and Transportation Security Act. That is safety, and it probably is the most important of all. But of course, others disagree. Some of the bad assets are cost, privacy, the ability of citizens to freely move throughout their country's borders, difficulty getting from place to place, uncomfortable travel, and even racism is an important issue. So is someones safety more important than all of these things? Airline tickets are ridiculously expensive and so is everything else you buy at an airport. It is this way because of the act and everything that it requires. Workers are able to look through any person's belongings and that is an extremely great issue because every person has a right to their own privacy, and it is unlawful for them to do so. Usually a trip to the airport is not an easy one given everything you have to go through in order to get on a plane. Many people would rather drive to get to their destination to avoid such difficulty. Ever since the 9/11 attacks, people have been racist about other people's nationalities, especially at airports. The workers usually question and check non-Americans far more than they do Americans. It is not fair because any person of any race can try to smuggle a bomb on a plane. Not just the middle-eastern race because supposedly "everyone" of that race is involved or is a terrorist. Even with this act, some people are still able to smuggle bombs and such on planes and there have been a number of cases in which this has happened. So what is the point of making people go through all of these issues if they are still not safe? Of course, it is safer because they have caught bombs and if they would have had this security during the 9/11 attacks, maybe they wouldn't have happened. Safety comes first no matter the cost and what you have to go through to get it, so in the end it is definitely worth it. 531