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The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) today congratulated the U.S. House of Representatives for passing H.R. 4179 – the Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely or FAST Redress Act of 2007. This legislation would take significant steps towards alleviating the burden of those commercial aviation passengers who are wrongly placed on terrorist watch lists.
Bill Connors, CTC, NBTA Executive Director and COO, said, “In a recent NBTA survey 40 percent of respondents indicated that their travelers are repeatedly subjected to secondary screening at airports, and many who have sought redress through the current system have not yet received clearance. The FAST Redress Act would help to rectify these misidentifications, reducing traveler inconveniences and increasing productivity for business travelers affected by false positives.”
Representative Yvette Clarke (D-NY 11th), who introduced the Fast Redress Act, attended the 6th Annual NBTA Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C. last week to brief more than 50 corporate travel professionals about the legislation. Attendees then met with their Congressional offices on Capitol Hill to explain the benefits of the legislation to the business travel community and encourage its support.
“I am proud that my colleagues in the House of Representatives passed the FAST Redress Act unanimously, demonstrating a strong bipartisan commitment by Congress to help the thousands of people who are repeatedly wrongly accused of being terrorists because of a case of mistaken identity. This demonstrates that we in Congress are listening to what Americans are saying and following through with action to address their problems,” said Representative Clarke. “I commend the National Business Travel Association for their hard work on the FAST Redress Act and look forward to continuing to work with them and others to ensure that this bill moves through the Senate and to the President’s desk.”
Connors added: “NBTA has supported this legislation since its introduction, and its passage in the House days after our members encouraged their Congressional offices for support speaks volumes about the power and commitment of the corporate travel community to further enhance the productivity and safety of its industry. We are grateful to Congresswoman Clarke and her staff for acting on behalf of business travelers, and we now encourage all corporate travel professionals to continue their efforts to support this bill by seeking support in the Senate.”
The Fast Redress Act would set up a dedicated office within Department of Homeland Security to coordinate and streamline the process of appeal for individuals who believe they have been wrongly placed on a government watch list and consequently remanded to secondary screening or denied boarding. This office would then create and share with airlines a “Cleared List” of individuals who have gone through the redress process.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
