Congress may be going home without extending a payroll tax holiday for working class families, but lawmakers did give final approval Tuesday to a bill smoothing the way for military personnel to get through security at airports. Final passage in the House also was an early Christmas present for freshman Republican Chip Cravaack of Minnesota, who authored the bipartisan bill now headed for President Obama's signature. Cravaack, a former Navy pilot, calls it the start of a more risk-based security strategy at airports. The legislation requires the TSA to expedite screening for uniformed service travelling on military orders. Cravaack says he was inspired by the sight of seeing a soldier forced to remove his combat boots at an airport. It was his first stand-alone bill as a member of Congress to win passage.
