House legislation goes to Senate

Business travelers who are often sent through secondary screenings or even denied boarding because their named matches – or is similar to – one on the government’s terror watch lists could get some relief under a piece of legislation that passed the House recently and was just introduced in the U.S. Senate. Called the Fast, Accurate, Secure and Timely (FAST) Redress Act, the bill would create a special office where aggrieved travelers could file for expedited appeals if they have been put on a watch list by mistake, or if their name is close enough to a flagged name to create problems at the airport. The new office would be able to investigate their allegations, creating a “cleared list” of individuals that would be shared not only with airlines but also with other government agencies that check individuals against watch lists. “Thus a traveler seeking a visa or participation in a trusted traveler program would also benefit from a redress application submitted to the new office,” said the National Business Travel Association, which has been lobbying hard for passage of the legislation.