Why is John Lewis on the ‘no-fly’ list?

For a congressman who flies twice a week, the list has been a headache

Interesting item on

Rep. Bennie Thompson (Mississippi) was next to me on my flight from National to New Orleans last night. Heard him say that John Lewis stopped him at National last night and said hes still on some TSA no-fly lists due to his arrest a few weeks ago so Thompson wants to file a bill to remove him from all the lists. Seemed like a nice guy though, and spent most of his time reading a huge stack of newspapers.

A Lewis spokeswoman tells CL that Lewis’ appearance on the list isn’t because of his recent arrest at the Sudanese embassy. The frustrating security snafu dates back years to when the controversial — some say ineffective — method of screening passengers was beefed up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Google “<a title=”“John Lewis” no-fly list | Google” href=”http://www.google.com/search?q=john+lewis+no-fly+list&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a” target=”_blank” target=”_self”>John Lewis no-fly list” and you’ll see what we mean.)