TSA gets it right for once

from Fox News

WASHINGTON - Troops headed for Iraq can now linger a little longer over
their goodbyes.
The government will allow the families and friends of troops flying to and
from Iraq to escort them all the way to the airport gates, rather than
getting stopped at security checkpoints.
The Transportation Security Administration (search) sent a memo last week to
airport security directors asking them to develop procedures so members of
the U.S. armed forces can be accompanied to and from their boarding gates,
agency spokeswoman Amy von Walter said on Tuesday.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (search), R-Texas, petitioned the TSA for the
change that will allow family and friends to meet troops at airport gates on
arrival and wait with them until they depart.
"Our troops deserve every moment they can spend with their loved ones while
home for R&R," Hutchison said in a prepared statement.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, only ticketed passengers have been
allowed past the security gates. Children, senior citizens and disabled
people were the exceptions.
Hutchison pushed for the change after learning that visits with servicemen
and women are often cut short because military charter flights sometimes
arrive six to 20 hours late, and between midnight and 2 a.m. In a letter to
the TSA, she said the exemption would give family and friends more time to
spend with the soldiers between flights.
They will still undergo normal screening, von Walters said.