[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17393-17395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 PROTECTING RAILROAD OPERATORS, TRAVELERS, EMPLOYEES, AND COMMUNITIES 
                WITH TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ACT OF 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, today my colleagues, Congresswoman Brown, 
the Ranking Democratic Member of the Railroad Subcommittee of the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Congressmen Lipinski, 
DeFazio, Cummings, Blumenauer, Larsen, and Meehan, join me in 
introducing H.R. ___'s, the ``Protecting Railroad Operators, Travelers, 
Employees, and Communities with Transportation Security Act of 2004,'' 
PROTECTS Act.
  On March 11, 2004, a coordinated terrorist attack against the 
commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, killed 191 people and wounded 
more than 1,800 others, making it the deadliest terrorist attack 
against European civilians since 1988. The attacks consisted of a 
series of ten explosions that occurred onboard four commuter trains.
  If we learned one thing about terrorists from the Madrid attack, it 
is that they stick to what they know. Since 2000, bombs have been 
detonated or defused on railways in India, Russia, the Philippines, the 
Czech Republic, South Africa, Israel, and Germany. In France, a group 
calling itself AZF claims it has hidden 10 bombs around the country in 
order to extort $5 million from the French government. The group 
demonstrated its credibility by suggesting investigators dig under a 
rail line; they found a small bomb powerful enough to derail a train.
  Terrorist threats against trains in the United States are also 
increasing. Just last week, a Seattle man who was aboard a cross-
country Amtrak train was charged with telephoning bomb threats against 
the train as it passed through Wisconsin. In May 2003, Lyman Faris, a 
truck driver from Ohio who pleaded guilty to providing material support 
to al-Qaeda, told investigators that the organization wanted to derail 
a train near Washington, D.C. Other intelligence sources report that 
al-Qaeda operatives have targeted the Washington rail corridor and that 
some have discussed exploding a train near storage tanks containing 
hazardous chemicals.
  Recent news articles report that, due to increased security threats, 
New York and New Jersey have put together an ``unprecedented'' rail 
security plan for the Republican Convention, which includes conducting 
inspections on platforms, boosting canine units, locking restrooms, and 
banning overhead luggage.
  With ever-increasing threats, our Nation's rail system is at great 
risk. Accordingly, the Federal Government needs a permanent rail 
security plan that assures the safety and security of all rail 
passengers.
  The fact is that the Federal Government is spending $4.4 billion this 
year on aviation security, but it's spending only $65 million on rail 
security, even though five times as many people take trains as planes 
every day. The freight railroads have adopted some security measures 
and Amtrak has added police and dog units and removed large fixtures, 
such as garbage receptacles and vending machines, from their platforms, 
but the railroads can't do the job themselves.
  The PROTECTS Act ensures that the Federal Government will do its part 
to take the necessary steps to address security risks on our Nation's 
railroads, while protecting rail passengers, rail workers, and citizens 
who live or work in the communities in which railroads operate.
  The bill authorizes over $1 billion to safeguard our Nation's rail 
network from terrorist threats. $500 million is authorized for grants 
to State and local governments, railroad carriers, rail labor, and 
others for the full or partial reimbursement of costs incurred in 
preventing or responding to terrorist activities or other intercity 
passenger rail and freight rail security threats.
  A total of $597 million is authorized for Amtrak to make fire and 
life-safety improvements to tunnels on the Northeast Corridor in New 
York, New York, Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, DC. $65 million is 
authorized for system-wide Amtrak security upgrades. This funding is 
critical as Amtrak shuttles 66,000 passengers every day, two-thirds of 
them through the targeted Northeast corridor. Terrorist attacks on 
crowded stations and on key elements of the infrastructure are a 
particular cause for concern.
  A total of $50 million is authorized for the Secretary of 
Transportation to create a research and development program to improve 
freight and intercity passenger rail security. Funding is also provided 
for a vulnerability assessment of freight and passenger rail 
transportation and a study and pilot program on passenger, baggage, and 
cargo screening.
  Moreover, the PROTECTS Act focuses on something other bills ignore: 
the importance of ensuring that key workers have the necessary support 
and training required to protect our rail

[[Page 17394]]

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 rail cars. 
They are in the most direct position to spot security risks and 
potential threats. The PROTECTS Act requires rail carriers to provide 
security training to these workers to ensure that they are prepared to 
recognize and react to potential threat conditions. Moreover, the bill 
strengthens whistleblower protections to ensure that workers who report 
or identify a security risk will not face retribution or retaliation 
from their employers. These protections are similar to the 
whistleblower protections provided to airline employees, except that 
this would allow a wlhistleblower to bring an action in the appropriate 
district court if the Secretary of Labor fails to issue a final 
decision within 180 days of the filing of a complaint. A rail worker 
should not have to choose between doing the right thing on security and 
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.
  When I began reviewing the issue of rail security, I sent a letter, 
along with Congressmen Henry Waxman and Elijah Cummings, to the 
Government Accountability Office, GAO, requesting a review of ten 
communities to see whether they are prepared to respond to rail 
incidents involving hazardous materials, whether accidental or 
intentional. Accidents in urban areas, such as the 2001 incident in the 
Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland, involving a fire fueled by 
hazardous materials, and a leak in hydrocholric 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.

  GAO found that many emergency responders were not properly trained to 
respond to incidents involving hazardous materials and radioactive 
waste. Local fire department officials that GAO visited in all ten 
communities confirmed that fire department personnel have received the 
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, which 
provides first responders with the knowledge and skills to identify a 
hazardous materials incident and to contact the appropriate response 
resource. However, NFPA representatives reported 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 PROTECTS Act does just that, but it doesn't stop there.
  GAO found that while local communities have most of the equipment 
needed to respond to hazardous material incidents, some locations 
lacked essential equipment, such as detectors, decontamination 
equipment, and personal protective gear. 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 PROTECTS Act also ensures that emergency responders know the 
types and quantities of hazardous materials stored in transit in their 
communities to aid in emergency response planning and to ensure that, 
once again, the local emergency responders have the proper training and 
equipment to respond to incidents involving dangerous materials.
  Winston Churchill, in his first statement as Prime Minister to the 
House of Commons, said ``without victory there is no survival,'' 
including, as he noted, ``victory in spite of all terror.''
  The PROTECTS Act is a necessary step to ensuring that end.
  A detailed summary of the bill's provisions is attached.

     The Protecting Railroad Operators, Travelers, Employees, and 
 Communities With Transportation Security Act of 2004--The PROTECTS Act

       On March 11, 2004, a coordinated terrorist attack against 
     the commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, killed 191 people 
     and wounded more than 1,800 others, making it the deadliest 
     terrorist attack against European civilians since 1988. The 
     attacks consisted of a series of ten explosions that occurred 
     onboard four commuter trains.
       Bombings on trains are nothing new for terrorists. Our 
     Nation's rail transportation network has also been targeted. 
     Lyman Faxis, a truck driver from Ohio who pleaded guilty last 
     May to providing material support to al-Qaeda, told 
     investigators that the organization wanted to derail a train 
     near Washington, DC. Other intelligence sources report that 
     al-Qaeda operatives have targeted the Washington rail 
     corridor and that some had discussed exploding a train near 
     storage tanks containing hazardous chemicals. Then, last 
     Friday, a Seattle man who was aboard a cross-country Amtrak 
     train was charged with telephoning bomb threats against the 
     train as it passed through Wisconsin on Tuesday.
       The Federal Government is spending $4.4 billion this year 
     on aviation security, and spending only $65 million on rail 
     security, even though five times as many people take trains 
     as planes every day. While the freight railroads have adopted 
     some security measures and Amtrak has added police and dog 
     units and removed large, fixtures from their platforms, such 
     as trashcans and vending machines, the railroads can't do the 
     job themselves.
       The PROTECTS Act of 2004 ensures that the Federal 
     Government will take the necessary steps to address certain 
     security risks on our rail transportation network, while 
     protecting the safety and security of travelers, employees, 
     and communities. The bill, among other things, authorizes 
     $500 million to be appropriated for freight and passenger 
     rail security improvements, a total of $597 million for 
     Amtrak's fire and life-safety improvements, $65 million for 
     system-wide Amtrak security upgrades, and a total of $100 
     million for rail research and development.
       Vulnerability Assessment. Requires the Secretary of 
     Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security, to complete a vulnerability assessment of 
     freight and passenger rail transportation, develop 
     recommendations for improving rail security, and finalize a 
     plan for the Federal Government to provide increased security 
     support during high or .severe threat levels of alert. The 
     bill includes a reporting requirement to the House Committee 
     on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee 
     on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The bill authorizes 
     $5 million in fiscal year 2005 for this initiative.
       Memorandum of Agreement. Requires the Secretary of 
     Transportation and the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
     execute a memorandum of agreement governing the roles and 
     responsibilities of the Department of Transportation and the 
     Department of Homeland Security in addressing rail security.
        Study of Foreign Rail Transport Security Programs. 
     Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study of rail 
     passenger transportation security programs in Japan, the 
     European Union, and other foreign countries. The results of 
     the study must be submitted to the House Committee on 
     Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on 
     Commerce, Science, and Transportation, along with the 
     Comptroller General's assessment of whether the United States 
     can implement the same or similar security measures as those 
     which are determined effective under this study.
        Rail Police Officers. Allows rail police officers who are 
     employed by a particular rail carrier to enforce the laws of 
     a jurisdiction in which any rail carrier owns property.
        Review of Rail Regulations. Requires the Department of 
     Transportation, to review existing rail regulations for the 
     purpose of identifying areas in which those regulations need 
     to be revised to improve rail security. Not later than 1 year 
     after the date of enactment of the Act, the Inspector General 
     must send a report to the House Committee on Transportation 
     and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
     Science, and Transportation, including recommendations for 
     changes to the regulations reviewed and any legislative 
     changes required to improve railroad security.
        Freight and Passenger Rail Security Improvement Program. 
     Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to 
     State and local governments, railroad carriers, non-profit 
     employee organizations representing rail workers or emergency 
     responders, owners and lessors of rail cars used for 
     transporting hazardous materials, shippers of hazardous 
     materials by rail, universities, colleges, and research 
     centers for full or partial reimbursement of costs incurred 
     for certain activities to prevent or respond to acts of 
     terrorism, sabotage, or other intercity passenger rail and 
     freight rail security threats. The bill authorizes $500 
     million in fiscal year 2005 for this program.
        Fire and Life-Safety Improvements. Authorizes the 
     Secretary of Transportation to make grants to Amtrak for fire 
     and life-safety improvements to tunnels on the Northeast 
     Corridor in New York, NY, Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC. 
     A total of $597 million is authorized for this program.
        Rail Security Research and Development. Allows the 
     Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security, to establish a research and 
     development program to improve freight and intercity 
     passenger rail security. The bill authorizes $50 million in 
     each of fiscal years 2005 and 2006 for this program.
        Rail Worker Security Training Program. Requires the 
     Secretary of Transportation to develop guidance for a 
     security training program to prepare rail workers for 
     potential threat conditions. Railroad carriers would be

[[Page 17395]]

     required to develop the program in accordance with the 
     guidance and submit it to the Secretary for approval. Once 
     the program is approved, the railroad carriers would have 180 
     days to complete the training.
        Whistleblower Protections. Strengthens whistleblower 
     protections to ensure that no employee or other person may be 
     harassed, prosecuted, held liable, or discriminated against 
     in any way for commencing, testifying, assisting, or 
     participating in a proceeding or any other action to enhance 
     rail security, or for refusing to violate or assist in 
     violating any law, rule, or regulation, related to rail 
     security. The bill would also allow claimants to bring an 
     action in the appropriate district court if the Secretary of 
     Labor has not issued a final decision within 180 days of the 
     filing of a complaint, and there is no showing that the delay 
     is due to the bad faith of the claimant.
       Systemwide Amtrak Security Upgrades. Authorizes the 
     Secretary of Transportation to make grants to Amtrak to 
     secure tunnels, Amtrak trains, and Amtrak stations; to obtain 
     a watch list identification system; to obtain train tracking 
     and interoperable communications systems; to hire additional 
     police and security officers, including canine units; and to 
     expand emergency preparedness efforts. The bill authorizes 
     $65 million in fiscal year 2005 for this program.
       Public Awareness. Requires the Secretary of Transportation, 
     in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to 
     develop a national plan to increase awareness of measures 
     that the general public, passengers, and employees can take 
     to increase rail security.
       Passenger, Baggage, and Cargo Screening. Requires the 
     Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Under 
     Secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Transportation 
     Security to analyze the cost and feasibility of requiring 
     security screening of passengers, baggage, and cargo on 
     passenger trains. The bill also requires the Secretary of 
     Transportation to conduct a pilot program of random security 
     screening of passengers and baggage at passenger rail 
     stations served by Amtrak. The bill authorizes $5 million for 
     fiscal year 2005 for this program.
       Emergency Responder Training Standards. Ensures that 
     persons responding to emergencies that involve the removal 
     and transportation of hazardous materials and high hazard 
     materials are properly trained to protect nearby persons, 
     property, or the environment from the effects of hazmat 
     accidents.
       Information for First Responders. Allows rail tank cars 
     containing hazardous materials and high hazard materials to 
     be transported or stored on rail tracks as long as 
     information identifying the tank car, the hazardous materials 
     within the tank car, and response guidance are immediately 
     available to local emergency responders. Such information 
     shall be provided through the Operation Respond Institute's 
     technology or similar technology.
       Definitions. Defines `high hazard' materials as poison 
     inhalation hazard materials, Class 2.3 gases, Class 6.1 
     materials, anhydrous ammonia, and Class 7 radioactive 
     materials.

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