[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17413]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PROTECTS ACT OF 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join Rep. 
James Oberstar (Minn) in introducing the Protecting Railroad Operators, 
Travelers, Employees, and Communities with Transportation Security Act 
of 2004 (PROTECTS Act). The bill authorizes nearly $1.3 billion to 
provide better railroad security and response to terrorist attacks.
  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 bill 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. It also provides for improved training and equipment 
for railroad employees and local emergency personnel to better respond 
to terrorist incidents.
  Increased funding for rail security is something this country 
desperately needs, particularly in light of the terrible metro rail 
tragedy in Madrid. The nation's rail infrastructure has been treated 
like the stepchild of the overall transportation system. It is finally 
time we dedicate our resources to providing rail security for our 
nation's citizens.
  After September 11th we started spending money like crazy on 
security, but I'm not sure we are getting our money's worth out of many 
of the programs we developed. That's why it is so important that we 
tailor a security program that truly meets the needs of our rail lines 
and passengers. The security measures we put in place for Aviation will 
not work for Rail. We need to learn from the mistakes that were made in 
developing aviation security, and apply what we learned in developing a 
rail security program.
  But we can't keep treating our rail infrastructure as a second class 
citizen. We have dedicated billions of dollars to the airline industry, 
and created a grant program for the nation's ports, but have done 
little to invest in the security upgrades our rail infrastructure 
needs.
  We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I know that everyone in 
Washington is dedicated to protecting our railways from attack. No 
security is fail-proof, but working together we can create a rail 
security program that protects passengers and keeps the trains running 
on time.

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