Department Of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2006--Continued
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006--Continued -- (Senate - July 13, 2005)
[AMENDMENT NO. 1205]
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise to commend Chairman Shelby for his leadership on this issue and Senator Sarbanes for his leadership. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this amendment along with Chairman Shelby and Senator Sarbanes. They have said it very well. We understand that transit systems are threatened by terrorists. That understanding was developed after 9/11, but certainly it was sharpened last week with the attack in London that left 52 dead and over 700 injured.
We recognize that we have to protect these vulnerable transit systems, and the purpose of this amendment is to provide the resources to do that. There are 6,000 transit systems in the United States, so this money, although it seems significant, will barely keep up with the demands for security improvements to transit systems across the United States.
Each day, 14 million riders use transit to get to work, to get to appointments, to get to hospitals, to do what they must do. Let me disabuse the notion that this is just the province of the very biggest metropolises like New York City. In Dallas, for example, on a yearly basis, 55 million trips a year on transit; Houston, 96 million trips a year; Atlanta, 137 million trips per year; Portland, 95 million; Charlotte, NC, 16 million trips per year; Philadelphia, PA, 297 million trips per year; and Minneapolis, 56.9 million trips per year.
Millions of Americans each day get on a subway or a bus and use the transit system. They are today not as well protected as they should be. The point of this amendment is to begin to get the resources together to start those sensible investments in capital equipment, in operational techniques and training and in consequence management that are so important for transit security.
As Senator Sarbanes pointed out, the GAO has found that one-third of the terrorist attacks in the last several years have been directed against transit systems. We know it is a target.
After 9/11, as I was acting as chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, I held a hearing--in fact several hearings--about the need for improvement of transit security. Today, that evidence is even more compelling based upon what has happened in London, Moscow, and Spain. All of these things should compel us to support this amendment enthusiastically.
One final point: Not only is transit important, not only is it a target for terrorists, but in terror attacks transit is an important aspect in consequence management. People were evacuated from the Pentagon because of the subway systems and the Metro systems in Washington. Transit trains moved underneath the World Trade Center. In fact, cool action by some of the transit police and transit dispatchers was able to minimize casualties. That will not happen if they do not have the communication equipment, the training, and the ability to respond and react to a possible terrorist attack.
So not only is transit a likely target, but it is an essential means of managing the consequences of an attack in any urban area anywhere in the United States.
So I again urge my colleagues to join Senator Shelby, Senator Sarbanes, and our other colleagues who support this amendment. It is important. It is more than timely; it is, frankly, after last week, overdue.
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