It turns out Sen. Edward Kennedy is not alone among congressmen who get wrung through a security wringer when they fly. Nine-term congressman and well-known civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) told CNN he’s been detained by the Transportation Security Administration 35 to 40 times in the past year. His and Kennedy’s names are on a TSA watch list of suspected terrorists. The lawmakers have asked to be taken off the list but the best the TSA will do is provide them with a letter saying they’ve passed a security check. It doesn’t always work. Lewis said that in one instance, a TSA staffer emptied every item from his suitcase and in another he was questioned at his seat. Kennedy told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week that a US Airways ticket agent refused to sell him a ticket and told him he wasn’t allowed to fly to Washington. Kennedy has been making the commute for 42 years.
