The only government agency to face more loathing than the IRS may soon see its days cut short. U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) have introduced a bill to abolish the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and establish private security at U.S. airports. “The TSA is an inefficient, bureaucratic mess that infringes on Americans’ freedoms,” said Tuberville.

The bill would give TSA three years to transfer the responsibility for airport security screening to private companies. It would transfer “non-aviation security functions” of TSA, such as mass transit, pipelines, etc., to the Department of Transportation. And it would create an Office of Aviation Security Oversight within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to oversee airport security screening, instead of TSA.

The TSA’s failures run deeper than many Americans know. “The TSA has not only intruded into the privacy and personal space of most Americans, it has also repeatedly failed tests to find weapons and explosives,” explained Lee. During tests conducted in 2015, TSA personnel failed to detect 95% of dangerous items smuggled through security checkpoints. After reforms, further testing in 2017 revealed the agency still had a failure rate of approximately 80%.

These results are shockingly unacceptable. Even a success rate of 80% (where the TSA detected four out of every five smuggled weapons) would be dangerously low, but TSA has the opposite problem, detecting only one in five weapons in the 2017 tests.

Since the 9/11 terror attacks, Americans have put up with major inconveniences when flying, in hopes of preventing another devastating terror attack by hijackers. Travelers who wish to board an airplane must first wait in long lines, remove their shoes and electronics, and submit to invasive scans and searches, in protocols that seemingly change with the mood of agents on duty. If the X-ray operator doesn’t like your snacks or the size of your shampoo, you are forced to watch as an agent opens your luggage to rifle through it by hand.

These procedures treat everyone as criminals, forcing them to submit to warrantless searches of their persons and property on the off chance that someone among them might be a malicious actor. They also force travelers to add time to their travel plans, with many planning to arrive at an airport more than an hour before their scheduled flight.

The argument for such onerous travel rituals is that it’s worth a little unpleasantness to ensure that no armed hijacker boards your flight. But this assumes that TSA protocols can effectively detect weapons that potential terrorists attempt to smuggle through security — which they manifestly do not.

TSA is “a bloated agency — riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars — that has led to unnecessary delays, invasive pat downs and bag checks, and frustration for travelers,” tallied Tuberville. “We need to focus on more efficient and effective methods to protect our country without sacrificing the liberties and freedoms of American citizens.”

In fact, a growing body of evidence suggests that private airport security can provide more effective security and do it more efficiently. Since the TSA was established, six studies have shown that private contractors perform as well or better than TSA screeners. A Congressional committee report also found that private screeners can process 65% more travelers per employee than the TSA, and other reports indicate that they provide better customer service.

TSA has already run a limited privatization program at select U.S. airports, including the San Francisco International Airport, and these airports “frequently outperformed their federalized counterparts in reducing wait times and mitigating threats,” according to Lee’s office.

In addition, “over 80% of European commercial airports privatized airport security screening,” said Lee’s office. If socialist Europe can privatize its airports, then America can too.

“Our bill privatizes security functions at American airports under the eye of an Office of Aviation Security Oversight, bringing this bureaucratic behemoth to a welcome end,” Lee announced. “American families can travel safely without feeling the hands of an army of federal employees.”

“The TSA should be eliminated,” Tuberville declared, “and replaced with privatized solutions that are more targeted, streamlined, and where appropriate, accountable to limited government oversight.”