This is LONG overdue.....DCA restrictions eased

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
Date: July 13, 2005 4:06:18 PM EDT
To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior () g2-forward org>
Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: This is LONG overdue.....DCA restrictions eased


The STUPIDEST post-9/11 restriction for us DC folks has been  
eliminated at
long last.  Thank the gods.    Maybe now I'll start flying out of DCA  
again.

-rick


Rules for Reagan Airport Passengers to Be Eased
Requirement to Remain Seated for 30 Minutes Will Be Eliminated
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/ 
AR2005071301
327_pf.html

By Sara Kehaulani Goo and Spencer Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 13, 2005; 2:30 PM

Passengers at Reagan National Airport will no longer have to sit in  
their
seats during the first 30 minutes of every departing and landing  
flight, the
Department of Homeland Security announced today along with of a larger
restructuring of the agency.

The elimination of the rule won't happen immediately, but will begin  
shortly
after the agency issues security directives to airlines, Homeland  
Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff said at a lunch with reporters and editors  
of The
Washington Post.

He said it was time for the rule to be eliminated because he is  
confident
that other security measures in place, such as hardened cockpit doors  
and
better screening, make it unnecessary. The rule was put in place as a
condition for reopening the airport after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks.

Chertoff also said his agency would collect 10 fingerprints from foreign
visitors who enter the United States through the US VISIT program, which
began taking digital photographs and collecting two index finger  
prints from
visitors in 2004.

"I don't want the American people to think we only add on" new security
measures, Chertoff told told a group of editors and reporters in a  
meeting
with The Washington Post this morning.

"We can scale it down, we can remove a restriction" if it becomes  
necessary,
he said. "We've got to make decisions to manage risk."

The announcements came just before Chertoff is scheduled to deliver a  
speech
in Washington outlining major plans to reorganize the department to  
better
focus the agency on its core mission and eliminate unnecessary  
bureaucracy.

Chertoff said he plans to create new under secretaries for policy and
preparedness and create a new office of intelligence. He said he also  
plans
to create a new sector to lead and coordinate operations.





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