McLEAN, Va. — Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff strongly backed a program Wednesday that would ease airport security for passengers who pass voluntary background checks to show they aren’t terrorists.

Chertoff told USA TODAY that checking air travelers’ backgrounds, including phone numbers and travel histories, would improve security by allowing the department to focus on passengers with unknown backgrounds.

“Probably Registered Traveler will be the first step because it’s voluntary,” Chertoff said, referring to a long-delayed program that would ease checkpoint scrutiny of approved travelers.

Registered Traveler would be a private program run entirely by airports, airlines and contractors that would register pre-screened flyers and usher them through security. Homeland Security would oversee the programs at airports, but so far the department has been cautious about publicly supporting the idea.

Chertoff’s comments Wednesday are among the strongest yet by the administration in support of Registered Traveler and come weeks after authorities foiled a plot to bomb U.S.-bound airlines.

The plot “may have refocused people’s attention on the importance” of background checks, Chertoff said.

A Homeland Security effort to check the backgrounds of all domestic passengers for terrorism ties has been stalled by congressional leaders who fear intrusion into personal and financial records. That makes Registered Traveler more viable, Chertoff said.

“When there is a real privacy concern with a measure we take, the easiest way to address it is to say, ‘Fine, we’ll make it voluntary,’” Chertoff said.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) — part of Homeland Security — is evaluating about 20 proposals to start Registered Traveler programs this year. Travelers approved for enrollment would pay $80 to $100 a year.

Steven Brill, whose Manhattan company Verified Identity Pass would manage Registered Traveler programs, said it’s “terrific” that Chertoff is “now so strongly behind” Registered Traveler.

Brill recently signed a contract to run Registered Traveler at one of the nine terminals at New York’s Kennedy International Airport, pending TSA approval.

Chertoff said Registered Travelers might not get faster security lines if enrollment is too high. The main benefit, he said, would be that travelers would “by and large” be exempted from additional searches and questioning at checkpoints. They may not initially have other security procedures waived, such as removing shoes and coats.

Source: USAToday / Thomas Frank