Airport Screening of Soldiers Eases

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill authorizing expedited airport screening for U.S. soldiers traveling on orders.  The legislation was authored by Rep. Chip Cravaack of the 8th District.

The bill orders the Transportation Security Administration to come up with a plan within 180 days to devise a separate screening procedure for uniformed members of the armed services. As a result of the bill, they should be able to pass through security checkpoints with less intrusive screening. Under the current law, soldiers receive the same level of screening as regular travelers.
The freshman Republican, was inspired to introduce the bill after seeing a service member have to remove his combat boots at an airport checkpoint.

On Monday evening, the House also passed another measure proposed by Cravaack that designates the post office in Pine City, MN as the "Master Sergeant Daniel L. Fedder Post Office. The 34 year-old Marine was killed in Afghanistan in August 2010 by an improvised bomb.