House Panel to TSA: Stop Patting Down Beyonce

Celebs like her are not terrorists: Rep. Mike Rogers
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 8, 2012 9:11 AM CDT
House Panel to TSA: Stop Patting Down Beyonce
FILE - In a Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 file photo, singer Beyonce Knowles introduces "Beyonce Live At Roseland: The Elements of 4" live concert film at a special screening for fans at the Paris Theatre, in New York. Beyonce will be the first concert headliner to perform at Atlantic City's newest casino,...   (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)

House officials have some words of wisdom for the TSA: Don't pat down Beyonce. Seriously. After all, "she's not going to blow a plane up," says Rep. Mike Rogers, who heads the House Homeland Security Transportation Subcommittee. "There are certain people that are just so well-known that you've just got to use your common sense," he added during a meeting yesterday. Others cited as deserving of a free pass: Donald Rumsfeld and Henry Kissinger, the Los Angeles Times reports.

During the meeting, TSA boss John Pistole noted that security efforts are being redesigned to focus on passengers agents know little about, and pointed out that the TSA now lets seniors over 75 keep their outerwear and shoes on during screenings. "If we have treated somebody unprofessionally, then shame on us because we have not done the job that we are expected to do," Pistole said. Meanwhile, complaints have actually decreased: This March, the agency got 1,294 complaints after screening 56 million people; last March 55 million were screened and 1,445 complaints registered, officials say. (More Donald Rumsfeld stories.)

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