Congressman Thompson Pushes For Homeland Security Funding

Congressman Thompson Pushes For Homeland Security Funding
Wednesday, February 02, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, United States Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) released the following statement in anticipation of President Bush's State of the Union address:

"More than three years after 9/11, and two years after the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Bush Administration has failed to fund critical programs that are needed to protect our nation. If we are going to prevent terrorism here at home, we need to make sure we make the right choices.

"First, we must make sure that weapons of mass destruction do not come through our ports and border checkpoints. To do so, there needs to be full funding for the best technology for detecting these weapons. Yet, at least $200 million dollars is still needed to deploy radiation portal monitors at our ports and borders.

"Our passenger rail and subway systems nationwide remain at risk. Almost a billion dollars is needed to avoid a Madrid-style bombing here at home. Just in the past month, we've seen two horrible train incidents -a chemical spill in Graniteville, South Carolina and a train derailment in Glendale, California - both of which show us how vulnerable we are. Yet, the President has not even dedicated a fraction of the funding needed to protect our trains.

"Our airplanes are still not secure. It is simply unacceptable for us to continue to hear about guns, knives, and other weapons making it on to planes. Almost three billion is needed to install explosive detection equipment at airports and an additional billion is needed to screen all cargo on passenger jets to protect them from terrorist sabotage. This is not a new problem and we have seen terrorists exploit this weakness. We know that terrorists are still interested in attacking aircraft and many of us remember the vulnerability exposed by the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Scotland in 1988 - when an explosive device in a baggage container brought down that plane.

"Three years after 9-11, our nation's first responders - the police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians - still cannot communicate with one another. No cost is too high to make sure that those who will put their lives at risk to save us can talk to each other. We should at least make a $500 million downpayment for the future of our responders, their families, and the people they protect."

http://benniethompson.house.gov/HoR/MS02/News/Press+Releases/2005/02-02-05+Congressman+Thompson.htm