Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is calling for the elimination of the Transportation Security Administration and recommending that the agency be replaced with "real privatization of security."
"The press reports are horrifying," writes the Texas congressman in an op-ed published online by The Hill. "Children molested; disabled people abused; men and women subjected to unwarranted groping and touching of their most private areas; involuntary radiation exposure. If the perpetrators were a gang of criminals, their headquarters would be raided by SWAT teams and armed federal agents. Unfortunately, in this case the perpetrators are armed federal agents. This is the sorry situation ten years after the creation of the Transportation Security Administration."
Paul called such treatment "appalling." He addressed his introduction of the American Traveler Dignity Act, saying that the legislation would establish "that airport security screeners are not immune from any US law regarding physical contact with another person, making images of another person, or causing physical harm through the use of radiation-emitting machinery on another person."
The presidential hopeful outlined his position on the TSA during his weekly "Texas Straight Talk" audio address over the weekend.
The Des Moines Register reported last month:
Paul would like to gradually close down the Transportation Security Administration and give private airlines responsibility for airport security.
“The airlines, they would’ve had guns on the airplanes if the government hadn’t prevented them," he told the Iowa-based outlet. "The people responsible for the property -- I mean we worry about the government protecting armored trucks. And nobody robs them.”
Click here to read more from Paul's op-ed. Below, audio of what the presidential candidate had to say about the TSA in his weekly address.
LISTEN: