Appointment Of Conferees On H.R. 4954, Security And Accountability For Every Port Act

APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 4954, SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EVERY PORT ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 28, 2006)

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this motion to instruct conferees. By passing this motion, we will ensure that the House conferees take seriously our Nation's efforts to secure the national transportation infrastructure.

We have seen a lot of piecemeal legislation coming out of the House of Representatives. Just last week, Republicans tried to shortchange the American people on border security by authorizing a fence without sufficient funds to build it. Some folks seem to think that piecemeal legislation will do just fine in time for the election. We have a chance here today to ensure that piecemeal and politics do not prevail over security and doing what is right by the American people.

We have the choice: we can partially secure or fully secure the national transportation infrastructure. This choice should be a no-brainer. That is why I encourage this body to support this motion to instruct. This motion incorporates many of the important security measures passed by the Senate, but neglected by the House.

Among other things, Mr. Speaker, this motion would instruct conferees to support improvements to security for America's seaports and mass transit and rail systems. We know about the very real threat to our rail and mass transit systems. We remember what happened in Tokyo, Mumbai, London, and Spain. We mourn the hundreds of innocent civilians that have been killed and wounded by terrorist attacks on a major rail system.

But despite all of this, Mr. Speaker, the 109th Congress has not adequately focused on rail and public transportation security. Similarly, the administration has not yet accepted that rail and public transportation is a Federal responsibility.

At a congressional hearing on March 29, Tracey Henke of DHS told Members of Congress that ``aviation security by law is a Federal responsibility. That is not the case for transit security.'' Quite simply, this administration has flawed vision of securing America.

The Senate has offered us a way to solve some of these issues, and the sensible thing to do is to support these solutions. It helps our communities for Congress to support vulnerability assessments for freight and passenger rail transportation.

It is good policy to require the submission of prioritized recommendations for improving rail security in a report to Congress. It makes good sense for the government to use this information as a basis for allocating grants and establishing security improvement priorities, and it makes sense to study the costs and feasibility of required security screening for passengers, baggage, and cargo on passenger trains.

It is also good for our Nation's security, Mr. Speaker, to create a rail security R&D program to improve freight and intercity passenger rail security. It makes sense to reduce the vulnerability of train stations and equipment to explosives and hazardous chemical, biological and radioactive substances.

Democrats, Mr. Speaker, offered many of these provisions in the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2006, and I am glad to see that they found their way to the floor today.

Another transportation mode that we should instruct conferees on is aviation security. London officials thwarted the terrorist plot to destroy 10 planes bound for this country. Next time we might not be so lucky. We know that aviation remains a major target for terrorists, so we should absolutely ensure that the House conferees do not ignore improvements to aviation security. Anything less would shortchange our communities and their safety.

This motion to instruct, Mr. Speaker, would instruct conferees to retain language adopted in the Senate that will ensure that TSA has enough screeners to keep our aviation system secure.

There is little justification for an arbitrary 45,000 screener cap. Such a cap ties the hands of TSA just as it is trying to expand its activities in the airport to include behavioral recognition and the checking of identification against boarding passes. TSA should not be boot-strapped by this arbitrary cap.

The Senate approach of dealing with this issue is an important one that we should accept.

In sum, Mr. Speaker, this motion instructs conferees to take a total and complete approach to transportation and maritime security. Mr. Speaker, we cannot continue to piecemeal security legislation. Just as we can't secure our borders with a small fence, we can't secure our homeland without focusing on all major threats. But how can we go back to our constituents and say we didn't secure America's transportation system when we had a chance? This body can do better, and this motion will make sure we put America's security first. I urge all Members to support it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This motion to recommit with instructions is clearly intended to make the bill better. We clearly have rail and safety issues still outstanding. What I have tried to prepare for Congress is an opportunity to get it right. Piecemealing is not the way to go. We absolutely can fix it right here, right now with this motion to instruct. If we do it, we can all go home feeling that America will be safer. If we don't, we leave substantial work yet to be done.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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