George LeMieux Weighs in on TSA Security Procedures

On Wednesday, outgoing U.S. Sen. George LeMieux grilled Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John Pistole at a U.S. Senate Transportation, Science, and Commerce Committee hearing on the TSAs new security procedures -- including a pat-down process that critics have called extremely invasive.

The outgoing senator, who is considering running against Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, agreed with the critics.

I would not want my wife to be touched in the way that these folks are being touched; I would not want to be touched that way, said LeMieux. I agree that our main focus has to be safety, but there needs to be a better balance.

LeMieux voiced his support for increased use of scanners -- which have also drawn controversy for being too invasive.

We should be moving forward with full body scanners and other nonpersonal-contact screening methods and use more common sense when addressing the risk of terrorist-related activity by travelers, added LeMieux.