  
| 
| |||||||||||||
Chertoff breaks a ruleBy Bill Schneider WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The government imposes a lot of burdensome rules and regulations. Only rarely does it get rid of them. When it does, we should mark the occasion. Maybe with the political Play of the Week. Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff gave a big speech on Wednesday announcing a major reorganization of his department. Chertoff announced "a systematic evaluation of the department's operations, policies and structures." Sounds exciting! But the audience of department employees did not interrupt their boss until near the end, when he made this announcement: "TSE will suspend the post-9/11 requirement that commercial airline passengers using Reagan National Airport in Washington must remain seated for 30 minutes after departure and before arrival." That means a lot to airline passengers, especially those with kids. "As a parent, the last 30 minutes is really difficult -- or the first 30 minutes -- because the kids, as soon as that light goes off, they want to go to move, and especially if they want to go to the bathroom or anything like that, it has made it a little difficult," one mother said. It also avoids potential embarrassments. "My family, when they came here, they had a terrible experience, especially with my grandma -- she was 84 years old at the time -- when she wanted to go to the bathroom and they told her not to go, they would not allow her," a traveler said. Reagan National Airport has special status because it is so close to the Pentagon, the White House and the Capitol. It was the last airport to re-open after September 11, 2001. And the only one for which the thirty-minute rule was imposed. "Every time you have the 30-minute rule, it just reminds you of September 11 and it just makes you think of terrorism," another traveler said. Why did Chertoff decide to get rid of the rule? "Significantly enhanced layers of security ranging from hardened cockpit doors to air marshals make it reasonable to eliminate this requirement," he said. The government does something reasonable! And citizens are grateful. "Now I can get up and go to the bathroom or whatever," a passenger said. At last, passengers are free to . . . perform their bodily functions. That's a relief. And for Secretary Chertoff, the political Play of the Week. The rule is scheduled to be suspended at 6:00 p.m. Friday. So if you will excuse me, I think I have to leave my seat. For an appropriate celebration. 
|
| |||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
