[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HOUSE MUST TAKE UP CHEMICAL SECURITY IMMEDIATELY

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, today the Committee on Homeland Security 
will hold a hearing on chemical security, something that has been put 
off for far too long.
  It has almost been 4 years since the attacks of September 11 showed 
us just how determined terrorists are to attack us. In that time the 
House has taken action to deal with nuclear security, cybersecurity, 
port security, border security and airline security, just to name a 
few. But we have yet to deal with chemical security, something that 
Richard Falkenrath, a former Bush administration official working on 
homeland security, called ``uniquely deadly, pervasive, and susceptible 
to terrorist attack.''
  Imagine a terrorist blowing up a chemical storage facility and 
releasing a cloud of toxic gas, threatening the lives of millions of 
Americans.
  The time to act is now, and that is why I have introduced the 
Chemical Security Act. I am glad the Committee on Homeland Security has 
started this process, but it cannot stop there. My own committee, the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over chemical 
security, must now follow suit, because the consequences of inaction 
are just too great.

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