Massachusetts Senator Gripes To Judiciary Committee Colleagues

Saaay... could this be right? Could Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) really be on the government's no-fly list?

That's the list of people who, under no circumstance will be allowed to board a commercial flight -- like terrorists. And Kennedy's name is on it.

Because of that, Kennedy told his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee that a gate agent actually turned him away when he tried to board one of his frequent flights between Washington and Boston.

There were phone calls, recriminations and apologies. Finally, the senator was allowed to board, according to staffers. But then the very same thing happened when he tried to fly back to Washington.

Now, being a US senator has some perks. One of them is, you can get Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on the phone. But Kennedy said he had to make three calls to Ridge before his name was finally separated from the names of terrorists and he was allowed to fly unencumbered. The process, he said, took several weeks.

FMI: www.dhs.gov