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| ![]          | **U.S. SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN**                        |
| (media/image |                                                       |
| 1.jpeg){widt | # **CONNECTICUT**                                     |
| h="1.1458333 |                                                       |
| 333333333in" | Casey Aden-Wansbury; Director of Communications       |
| height       | 202.224.0414, 202.744.3769 (C)                        |
| ="1.17708333 |                                                       |
| 33333333in"} | Rob Sawicki; Press Secretary 202.224.9965,            |
|              | 202.228.2925 (C)                                      |
|              |                                                       |
|              | Leslie Phillips; Communications Director,             |
|              | Governmental Affairs Comm. 202.224.0384,              |
|              | 202.744.2853(C)                                       |
|              |                                                       |
|              | Home Page: http://lieberman.senate.gov                |
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**Senator Lieberman - The Unfinished Agenda for Making the Nation More
Secure**

No one has worked harder and more consistently than Senator Lieberman to
defend the American people against terrorism and other threats at home
since the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001. Many of his ideas
have been adopted by Congress and signed into law -- the creation of the
Department of Homeland Security and implementation of key 9/11
Commission recommendations, for example. Others have languished in
Congress, while still others that have been enacted into law have not
been implemented well. Senator Lieberman continues to advocate for more
and better security across the realm of homeland security
vulnerabilities. His priorities are:

-   ***Chemical Security***

A terrorist attack on any one of the 123 highest risk chemical plants in
the nation could endanger more than a million people. Yet DHS still does
not have the authority to regulate the security of some of the most
dangerous chemical facilities. A bill co-authored by Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Joe Lieberman,
D-Conn., and Chairman Susan Collins, R-Me., was unanimously approved in
Committee on June 15, 2006. The landmark bill would establish risk-based
standards for vulnerability assessments of plants, security and
emergency response plans, and would give DHS new authority to shut down
facilities that fail to meet these standards. A provision allowing
states to enact even tougher chemical security laws, championed by
Senator Lieberman, was included in the bill.

-   ***Rail, Transit Security***

Terrorists have successfully targeted rail and transit systems abroad in
the last few years, but security for America's rail and transit systems
remains critically weak. A series of amendments cosponsored by Senator
Lieberman that passed the Senate this week would authorize \$3.5 billion
for mass transit security grant programs and \$1.2 billion for freight
and passenger rail security, which would go a long way toward securing
two of our most densely populated and vulnerable transit systems.
Senator Lieberman will continue to work toward final enactment of these
amendments.

-   ***Air Security***

The plot to detonate liquid bombs on aircraft bound for the U.S. in
August is a reminder that DHS must do more to advance bomb detection
equipment at airports and to upgrade air cargo security -- a
vulnerability still unaddressed five years after 9/11.

**-** *more -*

-   ***Port Security***

With 95% of our international trade coming through America's ports, a
comprehensive port security bill is imperative. The Port Security
Improvement Act of 2006, cosponsored by Senator Lieberman and approved
by HSGAC May 2, 2006, was expected to be approved by the Senate on
September 14, 2006. The bill would authorize \$400 million in grants
available to all ports; improve cargo inspection standards for
containers entering U.S. ports; upgrade inspection equipment; provide
grants to all ports for security training; and require DHS to deploy
both radiation detection and imaging equipment to ports. The bill would
also create an Office of Cargo Security Policy in DHS to ensure federal,
state and local governments and the private sector coordinate their
policies. The Act further provides real incentives to importers to
improve their supply chain security measures

-   ***First Responders and Interoperable Communications***

Disaster response and relief depends on adequately equipped and trained
first responders who have the tools to communicate with one another
across agency and jurisdiction lines or when traditional means of
communication break down. Yet the White House proposed cutting funding
for first responders and interoperable communications by 23% in its
Fiscal Year 2007 budget request. Senator Lieberman succeeded in
restoring \$860 million in the appropriations bill passed by the Senate
for FY07 and continues to fight for adequate resources for our first
responders.

-   ***FEMA and Emergency Response***

FEMA's many flaws were glaringly exposed by its inadequate response to
Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Major work is needed to ensure the agency can
adequately prepare for and respond to natural disasters and terrorist
attacks -- especially catastrophes. Under legislation approved by the
Senate July 27, 2006, FEMA would be strengthened and restructured within
DHS. The Senator is now negotiating these reforms with the House of
Representatives.

-   ***Outstanding Recommendations of the September 11 Committee***

While most of the key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission were
embodied in the intelligence reform legislation Senator Lieberman helped
enact in 2004, House leaders and the White House blocked enactment of
other key recommendations, including spectrum conversion to make more
bandwidth available to first responder emergency communications and
declassification of the nation's intelligence budget. The Administration
has failed to adequately implement others. For example, the White House
took far too long to appoint the leaders of the Civil Liberties and
Privacy Oversight Board, which was included in the 2004 intelligence
reform bill. The Administration proposed eliminating the Board's budget
entirely for Fiscal Year 20007. Provisions of the Real Security Act of
2006, which Senator Lieberman supported, would have strengthened this
board and set privacy guidelines for government sharing of personal
information.

-   ***Information Sharing***

As Hurricane Katrina dramatically reminded us, working partnerships
between federal and state and local officials are crucial. Little
progress has been made on the Information Sharing Environment that was
contained within the 2004 intelligence reform legislation and was
designed to improve communication among DHS, the Director of National
Intelligence, and state and local intelligence agencies. With
insufficient funding and unclear lines of authority, this information
network has not received the resources or leadership it needs to carry
out its critical functions.