"I Want Planes To Be Safe As Possible, But This Is Going Too Far"

Utah freshman Congressman Jason Chaffetz says his first-ever bill will be to block the Transportation Security Administration from replacing old-school airport metal detectors with full-body imaging scanners.

"I want the planes to be as safe as possible, but this is just going too far," he says. "The name of safety is overtaking personal privacy and I think that's wrong."

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the bill, which Chaffetz hopes to introduce in the next week or two, would force TSA to keep the current option for passengers to be frisked by a screener, if they prefer not to have the full-body scan. The Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) is one of TSA's test locations, and the agency reports the new scanners are being well received.

As for the idea that the machines invade privacy, local TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird said little, citing an upcoming meeting with Chaffetz to discuss his concerns, but added, "We don't look at it as an intrusion per se."

As for TSA claims that the machines do not reveal private anatomical details, Chaffetz says agents have told him they can tell how much change is in a passenger's pockets. "If you have that kind of specificity, you can see everything."

In statements to local media, Chaffetz has also called the images displayed by the machines "TSA porn."

Chaffetz also expressed concern for the effect of screening the images on screeners. "I don't think we should be subjecting TSA employees to sitting around looking at naked bodies all day," he said. "There's got to be a point where you say, 'We've gone too far.'"

FMI: www.tsa.gov, http://chaffetz.house.gov/