[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 90 (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             RAIL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, last week marked the first 
anniversary of the London subway and bus bombing, which killed 56 
people and injured more than 700 others.
  Yesterday, we were reminded again of the terrorist threat to rail and 
public transportation systems when terrorists attacked trains in Mubai, 
India, killing over 100 and injuring far more.
  The victims of these attacks were ordinary people, not that different 
from many Americans who are going about their usual routine of 
commuting to work, school or terrorist sites.
  After the London bombing, Congress called on the administration to 
move quickly to reinforce our Nation's rail and public transportation 
systems to prevent such an attack from happening on American soil. Just 
last month, we learned that this threat is real when it announced that 
al Qaeda had planned to attack New York subways using poisonous gas.
  Yet, nearly a year after the London attacks, Mr. Speaker, the Bush 
administration has failed to produce a comprehensive strategy to secure 
America's rail and mass transit systems.
  The administration also continues to focus almost exclusively on 
aviation security, spending $9 per air passenger, compared to only one 
penny per rail and public transportation passenger.
  The administration has also failed to ensure the front line employees 
of rail and public transportation systems are trained on how to 
prevent, prepare for and respond to a terrorist event.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, the administration has failed to devote 
significant resources to rail and mass transit research and 
development.

                              {time}  1600

  Yet we all know that the only way we can truly secure subways and 
buses, which carry millions more passengers than airplanes, is through 
new technologies.
  To close these security gaps, last month Congresswoman Brown, myself, 
and other Democrats introduced the Rail and Public Transportation 
Security Act of 2006. This bill will require the Department of Homeland 
Security to secure rail and public transportation systems using many of 
the same tools it is already using to secure ports.
  First, this bill requires a National Rail and Public Transportation 
Security Plan. Second, the bill requires rail and public transportation 
systems to submit vulnerability assessments and security plans for 
approval. Third, the bill requires rail and public transportation 
systems to train their employees on how to prevent, prepare for, and 
respond to terrorist attacks. Finally, the bill provides the resources 
and manpower needed to truly increase security.
  First of all, we plan to provide $400 million in authorized 
expenditures for a grant program dedicated to rail and public 
transportation security. Secondly, we authorize $150 million over the 
next 3 years for advanced research and development to uncover new 
solutions to the security threats faced by rail and public 
transportation systems. Finally, Mr. Speaker, $26.4 million per year is 
authorized over the next 6 years to hire 1,200 new rail security 
inspectors. For the record, there are only 100 rail inspectors in the 
country as we speak.
  This Democratic bill provides genuine solutions to the security 
threats faced by rail and public transportation systems here in 
America. I urge my fellow Members on both sides of the aisle to support 
it.

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