Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007

Floor Speech

RAIL AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ACT OF 2007

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Thompson and the ranking member, Mr. Oberstar, and his ranking member as well for this very important legislation that has come forward today.

Perhaps you, too, can hear the collective sighs of the American people now that we are doing something about rail and mass transit. They have wondered, and how could they not, whether the bombs that were planted in Madrid and in London would somehow find their way into their own subways or whether the Hazmat accidents could be more than that here in this country.

I was moved by these vulnerabilities to be the lead sponsor first of the Safe TRAINS Act, then the Secure TRAINS Act. After all, 800,000 Federal workers use our Metro daily. That did not inspire the Federal Government to move forward. Finally, we have a bipartisan bill to relieve the national anxiety of the average American about the forms of transportation she uses most.

They watched as we poured billions into air travel security. We had to do it, it was after the fact. But we left huge vulnerabilities.

Union Station, for example, the hub of the entire region, you have beneath it the trains running underneath a hall where Members every other day come to celebrate in the evening one or the other kind of event. The District of Columbia was driven by the vacuum to actually pass its own rerouting legislation that has not even been dismissed ever yet. That shows you how vulnerable we are.

The bill finally instructs the Department of Homeland Security to exercise leadership, to use its expertise so that transit systems are not working on security on a case-by-case basis. We can't protect the country by shoring up one mode of transportation alone--a virtual invitation to then move elsewhere.

I think there is an important lesson here. I am on the Aviation Subcommittee, so I have wanted to shore up air travel. But by shoring up one mode of transportation, we may be offering a virtual invitation for terrorists to go to the next most vulnerable target. That turns out to be rail and mass transit, where we could least afford terrorist events. That is where the American people are. I thank both sides of the aisle for coming together on this bill to go precisely where they are to protect the public at last.

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