Floor Statement on Railway Security Share on Facebook Share on X Print this Page Share by Email Washington, DC, July 11, 2006 Mr. Speaker, the Bush administration constantly crows about protecting us from terrorists, but when you get down to nuts and bolts it is clear that the administration and the Republican leadership of this Congress have no idea what they are doing. Just yesterday, terrorists killed more than 180 people by attacking the mass transit system in Mumbai, India. You had better believe that every one of the 4 million subway riders in New York took a deep breath before getting on the train this morning. New Yorkers know that, when terrorists strike, they go after high density, high profile targets. Every time you read in the newspapers that a terrorist abroad has been apprehended, you find the plans to strike at the United States are of Washington or New York, the maps in their possession or on their computers are of New York. Evidently this is yet to dawn on the Department of Homeland Security. Their ignorance is nothing short of disgusting. We need to step up not only the distribution of funds to the right places, to the targets in this country, we need to step up rail security protections in this country. The Democratic Rail and Transportation Security Act proposes to appropriate $400 million a year for the next 6 years for a grant program to beef up the rail and public transportation security on our mass transit systems in the country as a whole, New York and elsewhere, but the administration and the Republicans in Congress say no. The Democrats propose to spend $150 million over the next 3 years for advanced research and development to find more advanced solutions to the security threats faced by rail and public transportation systems. Again, the Bush administration and the Republicans in this Congress say no. We ought to be spending roughly $26 million a year over the next 6 years to hire 200 new rail security inspectors per year. Is this really necessary? You bet. Right now there are only 100 rail security inspectors for the whole country. We need to increase our intelligence efforts to prevent attacks, develop plans to respond to attacks, and ensure the timely restoration of our rail infrastructure should an attack occur. The Democrats have advanced plans to do this, while the Republican leadership of this Congress and this administration waste their time designating insect zoos and bean festivals as terror targets as was revealed in the front page of the New York Times today from the list of targets on the Homeland Security target list. Is there no end to their incompetence? First they cut funding for the prime target in this country, New York, by 40 percent. Then they declare an excuse that New York contains no national landmarks or icons, and now we learn they are designating a kangaroo conservation center as a key terrorist target. There is no excuse for short-changing this country's top targets. As the Inspector General has wisely determined, folksy appeal cannot be the chief criterion for the allocation of anti-terrorist funding. It has been over 1 year since terrorists struck London's mass transit system, over 2 years since the rail bombings in Madrid, yet little has been done in the United States to protect our rail and mass transit systems. This administration, the leadership of this Congress must open its eyes to reality and put our resources where they are really needed before we have another catastrophe, a preventable catastrophe, on our hands. And then it will be little comfort to know that the blame lies with the administration and the Republican leadership of this Congress. We don't want to be laying blame. We don't want to be saying it is their fault. We want to prevent it. So let us learn a little, and let us pray that the administration and the Republican leadership of this Congress has their heads examined and opened their eyes.