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  July 19, 2011, 9:00 am

News bites: Lots of 'likes' for TSA assaulter

By Keith Laing

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A woman who was arrested for assaulting a TSA agent has a lot of new friends on Facebook.

Is it safer for kids to drive with their grandparents than their parents?

Washington's Metro transit system is trying to win over social media critics.

The Federal Aviation Administration has made its acting Air Traffic Organization head permanent.

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  July 18, 2011, 3:06 pm

RedState: 'Time to End Bipartisan Profligacy of Transportation Spending'

By Keith Laing

The conservative website RedState.com said Monday that complaints about the Republican proposal for a new federal highway bill were coming from an "unholy alliance of Big Labor and Big Business to raise taxes."

The Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO have both sharply criticized the proposal from House Republicans to spend $230 billion over six years on a new Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, or SAFETEA-LU, transportation bill.

But RedState said Monday the plan, introduced by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), showed "a new spirit of fiscal discipline" was gaining traction into Washington, and should be praised.

"Unfortunately, along with the Democrats, labor unions, and usual rent-seeking parasites, the Chamber of Commerce is condemning the new austerity measures in transportation funding," the website said. "Concurrently, they are calling for an increase in gas taxes to fund their construction projects that are either gratuitous or should be funded by the localities that so desire them."

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  July 18, 2011, 1:57 pm

NLRB mulls vote oversight this week

By Keith Laing

With its legal complaint against airplane manufacturer Boeing under intense scrutiny from Republicans, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will hold hearings this week on changes it is proposing to its oversight of union election rules.

The NLRB, which has drawn criticism from the GOP for alleging that Boeing decided to build a plant in South Carolina to retaliate for strikes by workers in Washington state, is proposing several changes it says will streamline labor votes.

The proposed changes include allowing for electronic filings for petitions and other court documents and requiring parties to more quickly identify issues and provide evidence when they file complaints.

"One of the most important duties of the National Labor Relations Board is conducting secret-ballot elections to determine whether employees want to be represented by a labor union," NLRB Chairwoman Wilma Liebman said in a statement about the proposed changes. "Resolving representation questions quickly, fairly, and accurately has been an overriding goal of American labor law for more than 75 years."

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  July 18, 2011, 12:14 pm

Passenger arrested for assaulting a TSA officer

By Keith Laing

A passenger at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Ariz., was arrested for assaulting a Transportation Security Administration officer, the agency confirmed Monday.

The passenger, 61-year-old Arizona resident Yukari Mihamae, reportedly got into an argument about TSA's screening procedures while she was attempting to board a flight last week. In the course of the disagreement, Mihamae allegedly grabbed the TSA officers left breast.

The woman was taken into custody after the incident, and TSA said in a statement that similar incidents would be handled the same way.

"TSA officers work every day to protect the traveling public, and the agency will not tolerate assaults against its workforce," the agency said in a statement.

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  July 18, 2011, 10:16 am

News bites: Sunrise for Sunrail

By Keith Laing

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is in Orlando, Fla., for the signing ceremony for a commuter rail there.

Delta Airlines is eliminating flights to several small-town airports.

A Colorado woman tried to give a Transportation Security Administration officer a taste of the pat-down medicine.

A hailstorm in its hub of Denver caused United Airlines to cancel several flights.  

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  July 15, 2011, 5:40 pm

Issa, Chaffetz: DHS allegations about 'sensitive security information' false

By Keith Laing

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the head of a subcommittee of the panel that held a hearing about airport security breaches this week said that the Department of Homeland Security's allegation that sensitive national security documents were released by the committee were "false" and "meritless."

Department of Homeland Security Deputy General Counsel Joseph Maher wrote to the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), in a letter obtained by The Hill Friday that sensitive security information (SSI) was made public in the run-up to the committee's hearing Tuesday about reports there had been tens of thousands of breaches of secured airport perimeters since 2001.

But Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) dismissed the allegations Friday afternoon.

"There meritless assertions appear to be a reprisal for committee  efforts intended to address TSA's deficiencies," Issa wrote in a letter Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

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  July 15, 2011, 4:09 pm

Court: TSA's full-body scanners do not violate the Constitution

By Keith Laing

Lawsuit argued the scans are a violation of the Fourth Amendment's clause on unreasonable searches and seizures.

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  July 15, 2011, 3:30 pm

House introduces another short-term FAA bill; no long-term deal in sight

By Keith Laing

With negotiations between the House and Senate over a long-term funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) appearing to be going nowhere, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said Friday he was introducing another short-term measure.

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said he did not want to do another stopgap version of the bill that funds the agency that oversees the national aviation system, but he had little choice, with talks with the Senate stalled. If the measure, which funds the FAA to September, is passed, it would be the 21st short-term bill since the last FAA authorization bill was approved in 2004.

Mica said Friday he was disappointed to be offering another temporary measure.

“It is unfortunate that we have been put in this position, again, by the current Senate leadership, who refuse to negotiate in the best interest of the American public,” Mica said in a statement released by his office. “When Democrats controlled the House and Senate, Congress also failed to act, and unfortunately Democrat tactics have not changed. Our nation’s aviation system cannot operate effectively under the Senate’s ongoing political gamesmanship.”

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  July 15, 2011, 2:24 pm

Mica to Chamber: Stop criticizing highway bill

By Keith Laing

The Chamber of Commerce's criticism of the House Republican proposal for a new federal highway bill was "disappointing" and "a potential setback" to enacting the bill, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) told the organization that is usually a GOP ally this week.

In a letter to Chamber President Thomas Donohue that was obtained Friday by The Hill, Mica said the Chamber should recognize the political climate surrounding his proposal for a six-year, $230 billion Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, or SAFETEA-LU, transportation bill.

"During my years of service on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I have seen the National Chamber of Commerce evolve from an association that would advocate strong infrastructure and responsible fiscal policy on behalf of its members to an organization whose primary purpose in the national infrastructure arena appears to be to lead the lobby for tax increases," Mica wrote.

"It is unfortunate that is necessary for me to send this letter and express my dismay with the direction the Chamber has taken at such an important juncture in moving forward with something so critical to our economy and business community," he said. "The American people sent a clear message in elected a U.S. House to change the way business is conducted. Thanks to recent and coming elections, the priorities of the American Taxpayer have been and will be place ahead of the unchecked desires of some in Washington to spend money that is borrowed to support our Treasury."

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  July 15, 2011, 12:13 pm

DHS: 'Sensitive security information' disclosed by House

By Keith Laing

The Department of Homeland Security said statistics on airport security were improperly disclosed by a House committee.

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