Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today announced its support of efforts by U.S. Rep. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) to halt the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) call for “peanut-free zones” on airplanes.  DOT recently issued guidelines to airlines requiring them to provide buffer zones for passengers afflicted with peanut allergies.

“The Department of Transportation is nuts for trying to make the skies safe from peanuts,” quipped CAGW President Thomas A. Schatz.  “DOT should spend a little more time worrying about whether air traffic control computers will be working in the year 2000, and a little less time protecting Americans from the insidious effects of peanuts.”

In a September 2, 1998 letter to Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, Rep. Chambliss and nine other members of the House of Representatives voiced strong opposition to the peanut-free zones.  Chambliss fears that airlines will probably eliminate peanuts from their in-flight menus rather than contend with “the bureaucratic hassle” the zones would impose on them.  He is also demanding that DOT hand over its documentation for the new regulation.

“The idea that the DOT can micromanage the airline industry – based on a ten-year old law and without any medical evidence of passengers becoming ill from “peanuts fumes” – is absurd,” stated Schatz.  “What’s next – detaining travelers if they’re found in possession of Snickers bars?  Or maybe ordering strip searches of anyone suspected of smuggling peanut butter?  With more than 70 existing federal civilian law enforcement agencies already on the books, do taxpayers really need to foot the bill for the Peanut Police?

“This is direct proof that bureaucrats have way too much time on their hands,”  Schatz concluded.  “If DOT truly cared about passengers, they would do something about other, more pervasive allergies, and establish pet-free, perfume-free and shellfish-free zones.”

CAGW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, inefficiency, mismanagement and abuse in the federal government.