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Watch List Of Checks To Grow- Screeing Will Cover Cruise Ship, Airport Workers
Cruise passengers, but not crews, already are checked against the lists within 15 minutes of a ship's departure. Once President Bush signs the bill into law, it will require passengers and crews to be checked before the ship sets sail. The procedures must start within six months after the bill becomes law.
Supporters say the changes add another layer of security for the traveling public, but critics of the lists contend they provide greater opportunity for innocent people to be mistakenly branded.
The lists are wrapped in secrecy. The government doesn't disclose criteria for placing people on them, how many names are listed or any of the identities.
In a number of well-publicized incidents, people with names similar to others on the lists were stopped from boarding planes. One that happened to is Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
"To expand the use of something that's already so error-prone is shocking," said Marcia Hofmann, attorney for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based advocacy group.
There's no formal procedure for people to correct misinformation that caused their names to be added to the lists. The intelligence bill orders the Homeland Security Department to establish procedures for names to be removed as well as added.
The bill also requires the newly created Director of National Intelligence to set standards for placing people on the list and to report those criteria to Congress.
Tim Edgar, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, is skeptical.
"The government is more effective and efficient at getting people on the watch list than off it," he said.
Sen. Bill Nelson, who sponsored the cruise ship provision, said as many as 5,000 passengers and 1,500 crew members travel on each ship.
"What you have is a floating city of thousands of people," said Nelson, D-Fla. "You cannot be too cautious."
Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines, said the change could delay ship departures if it isn't handled well.
"We have no objection to ensuring that the government has a chance to properly vet individual's names, but we hope that is not done in a redundant manner," he said.
The bill also orders airport workers to be checked against the terrorist watch list before they are allowed unescorted beyond security checkpoints or on the tarmac. That includes at least tens of thousands of restaurant workers, concession clerks, cleaners, caterers and delivery people.
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