[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 68 (Friday, May 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1052]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006

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                               speech of

                         HON. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 18, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration of the bill (H.R. 1817) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2006 for the 
     Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes,

  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment 
introduced by my distinguished colleague from the great State of New 
Jersey, the Honorable Robert Menendez. This amendment will help keep 
Congress informed of the Department of Homeland Security's strategies 
to protect the people of New Jersey, our nation's most densely 
populated state--in particular, those who live and work in the high-
risk, terrorist target-rich neighborhoods that lie between Port 
Elizabeth and Newark International Airport.
  This is a matter of vital importance both for the people of New 
Jersey and for all Americans. The. threat of terrorist attacks against 
critical infrastructure in the United States has hardly subsided since 
September 11th, 2001. Northern New Jersey is an integral part of the 
largest metropolitan region in the nation, home to major rail networks; 
oil refineries, pipelines and fuel storage facilities; major airports; 
communicatidns hubs; and a highway system that includes I-95, the most 
heavily traveled traffic corridor on the East Coast. Indeed, this 
metropolitan region has already been the subject of the deadliest 
terrorist attack in American history, and the more than 12 million 
individuals who reside or work inside the 14-mile radius of this nerve 
center deserve assurances that their government is taking all 
appropriate measures to protect them from future terrorist incidents.
  I support the amendment introduced by Mr. Menendez not out of 
parochial if entirely justifiable concern for the residents and workers 
of this sensitive area of northern New Jersey; I urge my colleagues to 
adopt this amendment because it truly addresses vital issues of 
national security. The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest 
on the East Coast of the United States, with products and goods being 
funneled through its chokepoint to destinations all over the United 
States.
  As my colleague Mr. Menendez has noted, th!e Federal Bureau of 
Investigation has dubbed the area between Port Newark and Newark 
International Airport the ``most dangerous two miles in the United 
States when it comes to terrorism.'' I rise in support of the amendment 
offered by Mr. Menendez and I urge all of my distinguished colleaues to 
support it.

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