[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 1 (Thursday, January 4, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALLARD:
  S. 136. A bill to expand the National Domestic Preparedness 
Consortium to include the Transportation Technology Center; to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, in another area, the events of the past 
several years remind us of the vital role of first responders in 
responding to natural disasters and terrorists attacks. It is important 
that our first responders receive the training needed to make critical, 
life-saving decisions under emergency circumstances. I believe that an 
essential element of preparing our first responders is to provide them 
with hands-on experience in real-world training environments.
  The importance of real world training was called to my attention by a 
visit to the Transportation Technology Training Center, TTC, in Pueblo, 
CO. There, I witnessed first hand the tools at our Nation's disposal to 
equip our first responders with the training they need, specifically in 
the context of rail and mass transit. But our national training 
consortium does not currently include a facility that is uniquely 
focused on emergency preparedness within the railroad and mass transit 
environment. The inclusion of TTC would fill a critical gap in its 
current training agenda.
  TTC is a federally owned, 52-square-mile multimodal testing and 
training facility in Pueblo, CO, operated by the Association of 
American Railroads, AAR. Each year, an average of 1,700 first 
responders travel to Pueblo, CO, to participate in TTC's training 
program. The facility has trained more than 20,000 students in its 20-
year history.
  The ERTC is regarded as the ``graduate school'' of hazmat training 
because of its focus on hands on, true to life, training exercises on 
actual rail vehicles, including tank cars and passenger rail cars. The 
ERTC is uniquely positioned to teach emergency response for railway-
related emergencies.
  It is for these reasons that today I introduce a bill authorizing the 
National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, as expanded to include the 
Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, CO, and providing for its 
coordination and use by the Department of Homeland Security in training 
the Nation's first responders.
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