Remarks on Anti-terror Action Plan

Fifteen years ago this week, the lives of the five people that you heard from -- and many more you didn't -- became intertwined on the piece of land right there across the river.

As we all know well, that morning a plane carrying four hijackers approached Lower Manhattan, and that plane. The plane was part of the United Fleet and its pilot had been Ellen's husband -- and Captain Domaleski's dear friend -- Victor Saracini. That day, Victor, who was a captain of United Flight 175, became among the first casualties and the last lines of defense in the opening attack of the War on Terror.

Almost immediately, a thousand feet below, there began a rush of first responders. Paul Nunziato was on a bus with 20 other officers. The rush continued days and weeks after the attack, and it brought thousands of brave men and women, including Jaime Hazan, a medic, and Chief Zadroga's son, Detective James Zadroga, to the rubble. For days, James, Jaime, and others worked the Pile and Ground Zero, never pausing until every piece of rubble was removed. And as they did, they breathed in the toxic dust that would later make Jaime sick -- and, tragically, end Detective Zadroga's life. We will -- and must -- never forget.

Whether or not they took an oath -- whether or not they wore a badge -- none of these individuals expected to enter a war zone that day. But on 9/11, that's exactly what they did. And they did it voluntarily, without a second thought.

I believe that if people like this can step up and show great courage when they're not expected to, then shouldn't we have political leaders who display at least one iota of that courage when they are expected to?

Running into a burning building… protecting a plane full of people… going to war… that's as gutsy as it gets. But it takes far less effort -- and half of the heart -- to sit in an air conditioned marble building in Washington and support the people who run into a burning building.

Unfortunately, that's the kind of Congressman we've had in the 5th District of New Jersey. Scott Garrett is a coward who'd rather put Americans at risk than risk his perfect Tea Party record.

You've heard a bit about Scott Garrett today. You've heard that he's voted against more resources and training for police, fire, and first responders. He's voted against the tools to fight Lone Wolf Terror, and to help prevent incidents like those in Orlando, Philadelphia, and San Bernardino, and voted against the COPS program, to help put more community police in our neighborhoods. Today, because of Garrett, we have seventy fewer officers in Bergen County than we did just ten years ago.

He's voted against helping when our veterans return home from the front line --against support for prosthetics, job training, and PTSD programs for America's heroes.

He's voted against "no fly, no buy," and said that terrorists on the FBI Terror Watch List should be able to buy assault weapons.

You've also heard that after 9/11, pilots like Captain Domaleski asked Scott Garrett to support "secondary barriers" so hijackers could never again break into a cockpit. Garrett's view: that passengers, flight attendants, and pilots should -- quote -- "assume the risk" when they fly.

And then there's this: As Jaime told you, when Garrett was asked if he'd support health care for 9/11 First Responders -- the Zadroga Act, Garrett said no.

The reason he voted against it? And I quote, the bill "gave him heartburn." I guess all of his colleagues in New York and New Jersey must have taken a really strong antacid.

And then to add insult to injury, Garrett lied about it, and audaciously claimed, last week, that he was there for 9/11 first responders.

When you allow terrorists to barge into our cockpits, vote against veterans and health care for our 9/11 first responders, allow ISIS-inspired terrorists to buy assault weapons, vote against resources to stop lone wolf terrorists in our communities -- you are the walking definition of weak on terror.

Tea Partier Scott Garrett's position on terror has been to "assume the risk." Well, I have a much different take. I want to talk to you about my Anti-Terror Action Plan aimed at crushing terrorists and crushing extremism. Because I am not comfortable with our families assuming the risk.

First, it begins abroad. We must aggressively and relentlessly stomp out terror, particularly in our fight against ISIS, al Qaeda, and other extremist groups. We must work closely with our allies and continue our air assault. We must also be vigilant with Iran. I remain concerned about Iran and its ability, particularly following the deal I opposed, to fund Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.

Second, as important -- and just as we must fight terror abroad -- we must fight Lone Wolf Terror here at home. And we must use every tool in our arsenal to do so.

In many ways, the threat here is much more elusive and harder to eradicate. We have American citizens watching anti-American, radical propaganda videos from their homes on YouTube. They use Google to search for how to build weapons and execute a terrorist attack. Their training camps are in America's living rooms, not in Iraq or Syria.

We must also stop terrorists from buying assault weapons in the U.S. We all saw what happened in Orlando and San Bernardino. The Washington Post recently reported that more than 2,000 suspected terrorists have been able to buy guns in the United States without consequence -- lone wolfers like the Islamic fundamentalist in Philadelphia who walked up to a police car and murdered 33-year-old Jesse Harnett. If you're on the FBI Terror Watch List because you've been streaming ISIS videos and communicating with extremists, you don't get to buy an AR-15. Period. End of story.

Third, we need to pass the Saracini Aviation Safety Act, which would mandate installing secondary cockpit barriers on commercial passenger airplanes. For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would oppose a measure that would prevent a second 9/11. Captain Domaleski has probably spent more hours in the air than all members of Congress combined. If he says our planes need this to stop terrorists from charging the cockpit, then give it to him.

Fourth -- and you heard Paul speak about this -- we need to have a unified security camera system in all airports. Right now, a couple miles from here at Newark Liberty Airport -- and in airports around the country -- police officers don't have access to security cameras. If there's a terrorist threat or attack like there was in LA or Brussels, they literally have to beg the airport bureaucracy to see what's happening in real time. That is insanity. Our cops need to have the information they need to keep us safe, and not have to beg some bureaucrat to help in an emergency.

But that's not at all, which brings me to the fifth part of our Anti-Terror Action Plan. After 9/11, there was big push to make sure that, when a crisis occurred, first responders -- police and fire -- from many different towns and cities could communicate and coordinate on one radio channel -- they call it interoperability. And we made that happen -- the government set up a standard bandwidth for all emergency personnel to communicate.

The problem is that a lot of communities across the state don't have the necessary radios to communicate on that channel -- or the resources to buy them.

I was at breakfast with a group of first responders yesterday, including police and fire. I've been really proud to have the support of the PBA and the firefighters association -- FMBA -- during this campaign, and they were telling me that every year they get less and less help from the federal government to respond to a crisis. The Assistance to Firefighter Grants are down 55% from 2004 and SAFER grants -- which help train more volunteer firefighters -- are 20% off from 2010 levels. Bill Pascrell and others are working to stop the bleed, and when I am in Congress I'll help.

This doesn't just affect firehouses and police stations -- its lack of support affects preparedness everywhere: At many schools in New Jersey, they don't even have a resource officer with the proper radios that would allow him or her to alert local police if there was an active shooter in the school.

We must have a strong COPS program, to keep our communities safe and funding for regional counterterrorism tasks forces, so we can ensure law enforcement has the resources they need to fight Lone Wolf Terror. We must shut down sites on the Internet that have become breeding grounds for anti-American activity. And we must ensure that our veterans, on the front lines against terror abroad, are taken care of when they come back home.

And one more thing: We have to make sure that, when something goes wrong, our first responders are taken care of.

Every year more names are added to the memorial at Ground Zero. People are still sick and still dying from what they breathed in at the site. 9/11 is still claiming its victims. And I, for one, will never make heroes like Detective Zadroga and Jaime have to beg for what they deserve. We need to stand by those who stand by us.

If you're a Congressman, you take an oath -- the same oath as the President -- to "preserve, protect, and defend the United States of America."

The oath doesn't say, "preserve, protect, and defend the United States… so long as it's convenient for you." It doesn't say "preserve protect and defend so long as your vote doesn't screw up your Tea Party rating."

It says, "I will preserve, protect, and defend the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic."

And as your Congressman, I will.

Thank you and may God bless the United States of America.

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