[Your Name]
[Street Address]
[City, ST ZIP Code]
May 13, 2011
Honorable Congressman Thomas Petri
2462 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Honorable Congressman Thomas Petri:
I am very alarmed at the current news circulating about the Transport Security Agency and the threat to national security because of it. On May 11, 2011 the NY Press released an article titled “To Serve, to Protect and...to Steal”detailing the crimes of Pythias Brown, a 49-year-old TSA screener at Newark Liberty International Airport. The article mentions how Mr. Brown stole products that he then sold on E-bay for $400,000.
This is alarming for the following reasons:
1) If the TSA can remove items from luggage and sneak them out of the airport, then the process can be reversed and they can sneak them into the airport as well. This is very alarming as the state of emergency of the last decade was imposed on our society to explicitly limit this very action;
2) Over the past decade, TSA agents have proven to have low moral and ethical qualms;
3) Due to their actions listed in this letter, one can deduce that TSA agents may be bribed to do what terrorists, organized criminals, and foreign agents want once their lax attitude towards ethics is discovered.
Here is a list of articles written about other TSA agents and criminal activities:
Crackdown Continues on TSA's Luggage Looters (Sep 29, 2009)
Cops: TSA Worker Molested 12-Year-Old (Jan 31, 2010)
TSA employee accused of raping 14-year-old girl (Mar 09, 2010)
TSA Worker Arrested After Jokes, Fight About Size of Genitalia (May 06, 2010)
TSA screener arrested for drug theft at Little Rock airport (Jul 03, 2010)
Off-Duty TSA Worker Charged With Threatening to Kill a Somali Man(Jul 29, 2010)
Hartsfield TSA worker allegedly abducts, assaults woman(
Nov 23, 2010)
TSA agent at Memphis airport faces theft charge (Jan 27, 2011)
TSA workers stole $40k from baggage at JFK airport (Feb 16, 2011)
I expected a much higher level of service from the people that are empowered to protect us from terrorist activities, and I am quite disappointed. In the 10 years since 9/11 the TSA has not apprehended a single terrorist nor have they prevented a terrorist activity, yet their position of power has been repeatedly abused. I question the standards and background checks of those who are placed at the iron gate against potential terrorist activity, especially with the talk of expanding the TSA to train stations and other mediums of transport.
I implore your committee look at the allegations and find a way to remedy them before they escalate.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I suggest hand writing this and mailing it out. Other politicians this can be sent out to are:
House:
Honorable John Mica
2187 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Senate:
Maria Cantwell
311 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Jay Rockefeller
531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
TSA HQ, TSA 2
ATTN: 49 CFR 1503.3 Reports
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA 20598-6002
Janet Napolitano
444 N. Capitol St., NW, Ste. 400
Washington, DC 20001