[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 44 (Thursday, April 1, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S3582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 2276. A bill to allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to make 
grants to Amtrak, other rail carriers, and providers of mass 
transportation for improvements to the security of our Nation's rail 
and mass transportation system; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, two and a half years ago, the United 
States was caught unprepared when it came to aviation security. The 
results were devastating.
  Since then, we have greatly improved our aviation security, and we 
have begun to improve our port security. We have a long way to go in 
both of these areas.
  But, we have a longer way to go to secure our rail system--both 
passenger, freight, and local transit.
  In October 2001, the Commerce Committee passed a rail security bill 
to authorize $1.77 billion over two years for Amtrak. We knew that the 
United States must not be caught off-guard when it comes to our 
passenger and freight rail systems.
  Unfortunately, the bill never became law.
  And, now, we have received another warning. In March, terrorists blew 
up commuter trains in Madrid killing nearly 200 people and injuring 
1,400. We must heed this warning and address the vulnerability of 
America's rail systems. We must act now.
  Today, I am introducing legislation that will authorize funding for 
more police, canine dogs, and surveillance equipment on Amtrak and 
local transit systems. The bill will authorize $500 million per year 
for five years. One-third of the funding will be spent on Amtrak based 
on passenger ridership and the remainder of the funding will be spent 
on securing rail and transit.
  This is important for the entire nation, but it is especially 
important for California. California has the second highest Amtrak 
ridership in the country. Almost 9 million passenger trips began or 
ended in California during fiscal year 2003. Amtrak operates an average 
of 68 intercity and 300 commuter trains per day in California.
  The freight rail system is also important for goods movement. 
California's ports receive over 40 percent of all of the goods that are 
shipped into the United States. Many of the imports are shipped by rail 
through California and to the rest of the nation. If there were a 
terrorist attack, the impact on our economy would be devastating.
  Finally, local communities throughout California have mass transit 
systems. For example, Muni, in San Francisco, is the 7th largest 
transit system in the nation. There is light rail in Los Angeles, 
Sacramento, and San Diego. Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority 
has buses that go directly to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 
which has weapons research.
  It is vitally important to ensure that our nation's entire 
transportation system is secure. It is time we stopped ignoring our 
rail systems.
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