[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 63 (Friday, May 13, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E972-E973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTRODUCING THE RAIL SECURITY ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 2005

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, today, together with Subcommittee on 
Railroads Ranking Member Corrine Brown and 12 of my other colleagues, I 
introduce the ``Rail Security Act of 2005.''
  It's been almost 4 years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 
2001, and one year since the terrorist train bombing in Madrid, Spain, 
that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800 others, making it 
the deadliest terrorist attack against European civilians since 1988. 
Last month, Spanish authorities found in the home of a suspect in the 
Madrid bombing, a rough sketch of New York's Grand Central Terminal, 
the significance of which is being evaluated.
  The Madrid bombing was just the latest in a series of attacks on 
railroads worldwide. Between 1998 and 2003, there were 181 attacks 
worldwide on trains and rail-related targets such as depots, ticket 
stations, and rail bridges, resulting in an estimated 431 deaths and 
several thousand injuries. Yet the Federal Government has done little 
to enhance rail security in the United States. The Madrid bombing alone 
should have served as a wake-up call to Congress and the 
Administration.
  Last year, the United States spent $4.4 billion on aviation security, 
but only $115 million on rail and transit security, even though five 
times as many people take trains as planes every day. The President's 
FY2006 Budget for the Transportation Security Administration proposes 
$4.7 billion for aviation security and just $32 million for highways, 
passenger rail, buses and other modes of surface transportation.
  Amtrak alone has requested $100 million in security upgrades and 
nearly $600 million for fire and life-safety improvements to tunnels on 
the Northeast Corridor in New York, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. 
Securing Amtrak and other rail facilities is a formidable task, but 
Congress must get it done. Of course, that requires Federal leadership 
and Federal resources, both of which are long overdue. For 4 years now, 
our country still hasn't produced a national transportation security 
plan.
  The Aviation Transportation Security Act of 2001 originally required 
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop and submit to 
Congress a National Strategy for Transportation Security. In 2003, then 
Transportation Security Administrator Admiral James Loy promised the 
plan by the end of that year. Most recently, the Intelligence Reform 
and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004 required the plan to be produced 
by April 1, 2005. Unfortunately, the Department has pushed back the 
completion date for this document again. On April 1, 2005, the DHS sent 
a letter to Congress stating that the Department now intends to produce 
the National Strategy for Transportation Security to Congress in two to 
three months.

  We cannot continue to delay security improvements while awaiting the 
National Strategy. Congress needs to act now to protect the safety and 
security of our Nation's railroads, rail passengers, rail workers, and 
communities served by them.
  The Rail Security Act of 2005 requires that within 180 days of 
enactment, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 
Transportation shall develop and implement a railroad security 
assessment, a railroad security plan, and prioritized recommendations 
for improving railroad security. The bill also requires the Secretary 
of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Transportation to execute a 
memorandum of agreement governing the roles and responsibilities of 
their Departments in addressing railroad transportation security 
matters.
  The bill authorizes more than $1 billion to safeguard our Nation's 
rail network from terrorist threats, $500 million of which is 
authorized for grants to State and local governments, railroad 
carriers, rail labor, and others for costs incurred for preventing 3 or 
responding to terrorist activities or other security threats to 
intercity passenger rail and freight rail service.
  Under the bill, Amtrak will receive $100 million for security 
upgrades, plus a total of $597 million to make fire and life-safety 
improvements to tunnels on the Northeast Corridor in New York, New 
York, Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. This funding is 
critical to protect Amtrak's 25 million passengers, two-thirds of whom 
travel along the Northeast Corridor.

[[Page E973]]

  The bill authorizes $50 million for the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to create a research and development program to improve 
freight and intercity passenger rail security. The Secretary of 
Homeland Security is also required to develop a national plan for 
public outreach and awareness and a study on passenger, baggage, and 
cargo screening.
  Moreover, the Rail Security Act of 2005 focuses on an issue that 
security bills often ignore: the importance of ensuring that key 
workers have the support and training required to protect our rail 
system, whether those workers are railroad employees or emergency 
responders.
  Rail workers are truly the eyes and ears of the rail industry. They 
greet passengers, sell tickets, operate trains, maintain track and 
signal systems, dispatch trains, operate bridges, and repair cars. They 
are in the most direct position to spot security risks and potential 
threats. This bill requires rail carriers to provide security training 
to these workers to ensure that they are prepared to take appropriate 
action against threat conditions. The bill also strengthens 
whistleblower protections to ensure that workers who report or identify 
a security risk will not face retribution or retaliation from their 
employers. A rail worker should not have to `` choose between doing the 
right thing on security and holding on to his or her job. Despite 
whistleblower protections in current law, employees still experience 
employer harassment and intimidation when reporting accidents, 
injuries, and other safety concerns. This language will help ensure 
that these practices end.
  Congressmen Henry Waxman, Elijah Cummings, and I asked the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) in 2002 to examine ten communities to 
evaluate whether they were prepared to respond to rail incidents 
involving hazardous materials, whether accidental or intentional. 
Accidents in urban areas, such as the 2001 occurrence in the Howard 
Street Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland, involving a fire fueled by 
hazardous materials, and a leak of hydrochloric acid from a parked tank 
car in an urban area in Lowell, Massachusetts, have called attention to 
the safety of hazardous materials shipped by rail. The recent tragedy 
in Graniteville, South Carolina showed the devastating effects such 
hazmat accidents can cause.
  To my disappointment, GAO found that many emergency responders were 
not properly trained to respond to incidents involving hazardous 
materials and radioactive waste. In each of the ten Communities 
evaluated, local fire department officials confirmed that fire 
department personnel had only received hazardous material awareness-
level training, the lowest level of training recommended in National 
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 472, Professional 
Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents. This 
training provides first responders with the knowledge and skills to 
identify a hazardous materials incident and to contact the appropriate 
response resource. However, NFPA representatives have advised me that 
the minimum level of training for first responders should actually be 
at the operations level, the second highest level of training described 
in NFPA Standard 472, which trains responders to plan and initiate a 
response to the incident. The Rail Security Act of 2005 requires this 
training.
  GAO also found that while most local communities have equipment on 
hand to use in response to a hazardous material incident, some 
locations lacked important equipment, such as detectors, 
decontamination equipment, and personal protective gear needed to 
respond to accidents involving hazardous materials and 
radioactive waste. My bill addresses this need. It authorizes the 
Secretary of Transportation to make grants to State and local 
governments, as well as nonprofit employee organizations representing 
emergency responders, for advanced firefighter turnout gear.

  The Rail Security Act of 2005 also ensures that emergency responders 
will be able to get real-time information for dealing with hazardous 
materials and passenger railroad incidents through the Operation 
Respond Institute. The bill provides Operation Respond with $2.5 
million for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2007 for deploying and 
expanding the Operation Respond Emergency Information System software, 
developing and implementing a railroad infrastructure mapping program, 
and establishing an alert and messaging capability for use during 
emergencies involving freight and passenger railroads.
  The Rail Security Act of 2005 includes legislation that the House has 
overwhelmingly passed in previous Congresses, the Rail Passenger 
Disaster Family Assistance Act, which ensures that the needs of the 
families of the victims of terrorist attacks or accidents are 
addressed. This bill was similar to legislation we enacted in 1996 to 
address the treatment of families of the victims of airline crashes. We 
should do no less for those who ride our nation's passenger trains.
  As we introduce this bill today, we invite other colleagues to join 
us in co-sponsorship and work together to ensure its passage.

                          ____________________