four hundred seventy the nays are two two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid o gentleman from mississippi right madam speaker unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the record on h r fourteen zero one resolution two seventy and rule eighteen the chair to clear the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of the bill h r fourteen zero one the chair appoint the gentleman from north carolina mr but appeal to preside over the committee of the whole of h r fourteen zero one which the clerk will report by title h r fourteen zero want to build to a group of the security of railroads public transportation and over the road buses in the united states and for other purposes pursuant to the rule the bill is considered read the first time general debate or not exceed one hour and twenty minutes with what our equally divided and controlled by the chairman henry ranking minority member of the committee on homeland security and twenty minutes equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure the gentleman from mississippi mr thompson and the gentleman from new york mr king each one hundred and ninety one people and leaving thousands wounded as americans we mourn the loss felt by spain we wondered whether terrorists would try the same here at home and then we waited the next wondering and waiting has come and gone today we at the rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven makes clear that america simply will not wait for terrorists to trac attack out trains buses and subways we will act now to secure them about a partisan bill h r fourteen zero one was passed unanimously out of the committee on homeland security this legislation goes a long way to protecting our rail and mass transit systems so that we can move freely yet securely through our community for example it requires rail and public transportation systems to complete vulnerability assessment and security plans it requires the department of homeland security to finally develop a strategy for rail and transportation security it strengthens intelligence and information sharing efforts in issue is that hard work in rail and public transportation employee training and on the lookout for security violations it requires railroads to use the most secure routes to transport hazardous materials it provides a much needed r and d testing and technology in the rail and public transportation arena now i'm certain that this deal is not without its naysayers they are some that have and will continue to say that we can never secure the system average many excuses but it's i've heard many excuses from the people of the in the past year they say that the systems are too expensive that the systems are to open that we should only worry about aviation i say in response if congress does nothing and america is attacked it will be our responsibility we will deserve to be harshly for inaction instead of waiting let's do something right and protect the people we're here to and at the outset let me thank chairman thompson not only for his work on this bill in particular but for the spirit of cooperation that prevailed throughout this entire period leading up to today i also want to  mr thompson had pledged upon becoming chairman of the full committee that this will be a main priority for him and he has delivered there are certain parts of the bill that i would have problems with but having said that i certainly commend him for the effort he's put into this and again to the level of cooperation not only between him and me but between other members of the committee and the tween majority staff and the minority staff which haven't changed all our worlds and we have attempted in various ways to meet the threat that is presented to us by international islamic terrorism much work has been done at the airports rest year we is very much needed to take a more significant step down that road we saw from the attacks on march eleventh two thousand and four in madrid the attacks of july seventh in london in two thousand and five and the attacks in india on commuter lines that terrorists certainly are targeting our rail and transit for terrorist attack one of the reasons being that it is so much more difficult to secure transit than it is airports certainly looking at a very parochial we in my own my own perspective new york new york city subway system has more than four hundred subway stations and has over fifteen hundred exits and entrances to those stations in addition to that we have many many tens of thousands of commuters coming in from the suburbs of one island in upstate new york and new jersey every day so but it's not just new york issue by any means this is an issue which affects revenue transit throughout the country but it's an issue that must be addressed and it's also we have to look at the possibility that the next terrorist attack like london madrid in india will be launched from the suburbs so it's not just the inner city subways of the big city subway systems it's the commuter lines and all of them which are interrelated have to be protected to the extent that we can we also have to support those systems which we believe can work such as the viper system which i believe is essential we have to have training for the security personnel i wish that the legislature also provided that the funding can go directly to the police who provide security it won't be you will have to go through the intermediary carriers which i think is not a step in the right direction but i also understand the realities of what has to be done but i think that the certainly the police and the transit workers front line of defense when it comes to securing mass transit and it's essential that they receive the training that they need it's also essential that there be capital improvements that for instance the tunnels leading into the main terminals be reinforced that the escape precautions be improved upon that the first responders have access to tunnels  and terminals in times of terrorist attack so these are all issues which i believe are addressed to a significant extent in the legislation as we had said during the previous debate on the rule there are parts of the legislation no where we've been very very helpful and really i think essential to have had amendments rule in law to an almost a longer i'm sure we addressing some of these issues but the whole issue on the whistleblowers as to what we do to protect national security secrets and top secret materials and whether or not why the government will be in effect precluded from asserting the state secrets offense that is to me a very very significant issue and it's one where i believe the this to me is important but having said that this legislation is a very very significant step forward it's a major step forward and it's an area where again we realize in a bipartisan way that more had to be done and this is why it's significant more have we done in the future because we have an enemy which is constantly adapting and then me which is vicious and deadly and has proven on nine eleven can use any number of means a disposal and we have to i think outside the box we have to try to would dissipate what they are going to do and if god forbid there is an attack we want to make sure that our people are able to respond as quickly and as effectively as possible so i  us and again just developing and showing a spirit of bipartisanship which i think is really essential because homeland security should not be a partisan issue we will have and we do an honest differences but i think the overwhelming majority of the issues affecting homeland security can and should be addressed in a bipartisan way and on those issues that we cannot resolve we can have honest intelligent differences on them without in any way questioning the motives of the other side of either side and also realizing that sometimes very pragmatic decisions have to be made and we can't allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good so with that i thank chairman thomas and i certainly thank the ranking member one for his efforts both in the last congress  one the rail and public transportation security act this bill finally addresses the security of our nation's rail and mass transit industries and it's been put together in a bipartisan fashion the bill includes commonsense provisions that require transportation providers to conduct thorough risk assessment and threat mitigation plan it also develop security training guidelines for frontline workers who are the eyes and ears on the ground and finally it gives over a billion dollars in federal grants for first responder training for purchasing of emergency response equipment interoperable communications systems and cargo and passenger screening equipment these steps identify where we are vulnerable and give the right people the training and equipment to make us less so i also commend the committee for adopting two amendments i introduced the first which i introduced with the help of congressman john salazar from colorado adds the transportation technology center inc in pueblo colorado to the national domestic preparedness consortium so that it can bring its expertise in providing additional security to the to rail and mass transit systems as a nation's premier rail security training facility this would give greater ability to respond to rail disasters by other amendment is one that i worked on with my friend from california and it clarifies department of homeland security rules on what crimes constitute security risks for employees during a background check and it provides a redress process for individuals who feel they were unfairly fired or terminated mr speaker the security of america's railroad and public transit systems are too important to ignore any longer this bipartisan common sense bill will drastically improve our security referred to regarding background checks on employees we included language that specify that nothing in the section of the bill was intended to preempt state and local governments from an acting or enforcing requirements regarding criminal background checks further we agreed and the committee included in report language that this section was not intended to prevent an employer including state and local governments from making any employment decisions otherwise permissible under federal state or local law i'd also like to clarify my understanding that this section is intended to impact employers who are complying with the department of homeland security requirements regulation or guidance but does not apply to employers who conduct background checks for other reasons and i would ask the gentleman yield to him whether this is his understanding of the intent of the section yes thank you mr longer and i concur with your description of my amendment  i thank you for the question first i would like to thank the committee and my friend from california because we worked out language that would prevent preemption of federal state or local laws for security background checks furthermore these requirements only apply to department of homeland security guidelines and private employers may conduct subsequent or alternative security background checks looking for other crimes based on their employment agreements or other applicable laws however if a person is adversely affected by that security check with regard to his or her employment the employer may not use the homeland security or use homeland security as the impetus for that adverse decision this section addresses the concerns brought to our attend at a hearing on the impact of background checks on the transportation workforce and additionally it provides a redress process modeled after the transportation worker identification card program that carefully balances the importance of background checks while protecting the nation's critical infrastructure and i would yield back i thank the gentleman for working with me on this bill and for clarifying the section  rise in support of the bill this is a bill which we have worked on for some time we started in the last congress holding hearings on this on a bipartisan basis we attempted to get information from the public and private sector in these areas of our economy and i congratulate the ranking or excuse me the chairman of the full committee in the chairperson of the subcommittee for moving forward with dispatch on this issue we did work on other sectors of our economy with respect to the issue of security against terrorist threat we did very good work in the area of port security we did very good work in the area of chemical facilities security i hope that we will continue to do work in the area of the trucking industry where we're talking about the rail system and mass transit systems there is a demonstrated need for us to act for us to have guidance from the federal government to state local governments in cooperation with state and local governments and for us to have guidance for the private sector and to work with the private sector in dealing with this threat that threatens all of us public and private sector combined at the same time i would suggest that there are a couple of concerns that i have about what form this bill may take one of the areas that i tried by way of presenting a suggested amendment to the rules committe to improve this legislation was the area of whistleblower i mention this earlier in the debate on the rule but let me just stress why this is important we are dealing with an area in which we are requiring and requesting that other entities work with the federal government in coming up with security measures and as a result of that there will be information that we do not want shared with the outside world that we certainly do not want shared in a public venue such that those who would do us harm would have an opportunity to be effective in their intent and that is why i was concerned and other members on my side of the hour were concerned about the with whistleblower provisions here which frankly do not carve out an exception for that area of the law dealing with security sensitive information this is of such concern that i understand the administration would recommend a veto of this bill not on the substance of it but on the whistleblower provision and there's no reason for us to run into that difficulty secondly in the area that will be discussed by the gentle lady from florida ms brown what we have the concern about allowing this information out not in a whistleblower setting but just allowing this information out as a result of request under the freedom of information act and remember prior to nine eleven we used to have all sorts of information about nuclear facilities and other entities dealing with power such that someone could go on an internet internet search and find out exactly what the vulnerabilities of those particular facilities happened to be we realized after nine eleven that in our effort to get everything out to the public we had probably damaged ourselves in terms of our vulnerability here is another area where we are not in my judgment giving enough concern about the possible ill effects of our effort to get everything out in the pub and what we have said and miss browne waits amendment attempted to do was to try and say in those areas where we have security sensitive information there ought to be an exception from the provisions of the freedom of information act we did this on a bipartisan basis in the maritime security bill a couple of congresses ago why we are not doing the same thing here i do not understand and if we had remembered to bring forward we could have debated that and i hope we will take care of that problem on the senate side or in conference the last thing i would suggest is i understand there's going to be a moment presented on the floor about the alternative materials sources this deals with the toxic inhalation materials we worked very closely i worked personally with the gentleman from massachusetts mr markey in this in this specific area and we we've managed to come up with a bipartisan balanced approach to that and i just hope when we have the short time allowed for debate on that amendment we will debate it in the context of the bipartisan balanced approach that we developed in our committee and brought forth to this floor if you're going to present amendment which basically is going to have the effect whether intended or otherwise to remove these materials from rail to our highways how can we say we're any safer and frankly that's what that amendment will do so i hope members will look at this not as a partisan issue i'm not saying what was offered by the majority side of the minority side therefore i'm going to vote for it or defeat it on that basis but look at the actual words in there and look at what the impact be we have made some mistakes in the past in our effort in our effort do things that we've done in the past work out the knowledge of the threat of terrorism that came upon us on nine eleven let us not complete action on this bill as if we were dealing with it on nine ten this is a bill that ought to be debated considered and voted on in the full light of the events that took place on nine eleven and thereafter with support of h r fourteen zero one the rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven and i want to thank chairman thompson ranking member king for moving this bill to the floor in a bipartisan manner the president's budget request for f y a weight includes only forty one million from t s a for surface transportation less than one percent of the t s a budget from f y o three to f y o sixty h s distributed approximately three hundred eighty six seven million for rail and mass transit security grants on average that is only one penny of federal homeland security funding spent for each of the nine point five billion transit passenger trips each year this number is minuscule compared with the average federal security investment of nine dollars pray a line passenger trip this legislation represents the first step in closing the enormous gap between federal spending on aviation security and spending on security for rail and public transportation as we saw in the uncovered plot to bomb the herald square subway station in new york city as well as the horrific attacks in madrid london and mumbai terrorists are targeting mass transit systems and we must do what it takes to protect and secure our transportation networks this bill for the first time authorizes dedicated risk based funding for the security of railroad carious public transportation systems and over the road but it also provides a fire in line safety improvements to be made to the amtrak tunnels throughout the critically important  including six tunnels in the new york city area every day thousands of my constituents join more than seven million riders traveling on metropolitan transit authority trains and buses throughout the new york metro area they expect and to know that the federal government is just as committed to rail security as the homeland security priorities i urge my colleagues to support this legislation generally as time has expired gentlemen from new york i  touched upon how the world has changed since september eleventh but sometimes we say those words and really the heart and the meat of those words don't really touch our hearts and if i could just take a moment  to share a story with you as i was traveling through my district a few months ago and along the freeways just south of the city of seattle i looked up at one of the traffic advisory boards and usually what you see on those advisory boards are traffic alerts take a different route traffic accident ahead severe hazard ahead exit freeway blocked freeway ahead those are the things that we are used to seeing on our traffic advisory boards in the seattle area but on this day as i looked up at the traffic advisory board what it said was sea tac airport security alert no no liquids allowed on carry on on planes and in carry on luggage that to me just struck for a moment at really the true change that's happened since september eleventh freedom has been impacted by the attack on the united states of america and as we look at protecting our homeland it is so important for our protection to be coordinated by law enforcement by local law enforcement for grant monies to be directed toward local law enforcement and partnering with the federal system partnering with the department of transportation partnering with the the airport and the rail and security people who protect our railways highways and airports of those have to be brought together and indeed in conjunction with the private sector that's the duty of local law enforcement to bring people together to make our neighborhoods and communities safe but as i support h r fourteen zero one as reported unanimously by the committee on homeland security and in strong up to i am in strong opposition to the manager's amendment that's up for consideration today under the version of this legislation mr speaker approved by the committee on homeland security department of homeland security would be responsible for distributing rail and public transportation security grants unfortunately good policy has given way to politics and in the manager's amendment we see the responsibility for administering these grants is shifted from the department of homeland security to the department of transportation in a statement by the national sheriffs association on this legislation the association writes quote specifically the national sheriffs association sheriffs and law enforcement officials have a vested interest in protecting national and homeland security and in order to do so it is paramount that an obvious and central entity exists to which sheriffs can turn to for support and assistance with us the national sheriffs association believes that allowing the department of homeland security to maintain their primary role in the assessment and distribution of grant monies concerning rail security will help maintain such a necessary and efficient homeland security infrastructure and quote let me repeat that last part please allowing the department of homeland security to maintain the primary role in the assessment and distribution of grant monies concerning security will help maintain such a necessary and efficient homeland security infrastructure in addition to this ill conceived move the manager's amendment makes another critical error in determining who is eligible for the two point four billion dollars of funds for rail security again the version of this legislation reported out of the committee on homeland security allowed state local and tribal government entities as well as railroad carriers to apply for these grants risk based threat based the manager's amendment allows eligible railroad carriers only to apply for these grants mr speaker as a form sheriff of a major metropolitan area i understand local law enforcement plays an important role in protecting our nation's transit and rail systems a cynical person might say that the manager's amendment serves as nothing more  point four billion dollar earmark for amtrak so i'm sure that that is not the overt intent of its author while the manager's amendment has made some improvements to this legislation specifically whistleblower provisions i remain in mississippi thank you most think of the speaker i yield to the gentleman from rhode island the chairman of emergency threats so the committee must lanterns for two minutes the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for two minutes i thank the the chairman for the yelling i want to commend him on his outstanding leadership in bringing this bill to the floor mr speaker i rise today in strong support of the rail and public transportation security act h r fourteen zero one which will significantly strengthen our state strengthen the safety of our nation's rail mass transit system mass transit systems worldwide have long been terrorist target within the past few years terrorists have exploited security vulnerabilities to carry out systems in london madrid and mumbai that we are fortunate to have escaped attack here in the united states but make no mistake about it the threat continues to be very real now each day overall eleven point three million americans utilize our nation's rail and public transit systems the effort we must try to get delicate balance between tightening security and allowing for the free flow of passengers heading to school work and rate recreational activities that one of the that we can make a difference is in training our mass transit and rail course railway personnel rail and mass transit security work as our first line defense in identifying abnormal activity and protecting passengers from potentially harmful chew ations it is therefore vital that we have put them with the training that they need be affected that this legislation will create mandatory security training programs to prepare all frontline a railroad and public transportation workers the potential threat conditions i'm also pleased that this bill finally authorized the general funding for enhanced security efforts on average mr speaker we spend nine dollars per air passenger annually on security but only one penny and mass transit and i'm confident that h r fourteen zero one will bring us another step closer to achieving this goal mr speaker we have certainly come a long way in making our nation safer since september eleventh but we have still not yet made this bill combined with the homeland security measures passed in recent months will close many of the existing gaps that make our day and make our nation safer i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important piece of legislation again i commended the chairman for up for his leadership and bringing somehow found their way to their own subways or whether the has mac accidents could be more than that here in this country i was moved by these vulnerable bonobo but these vulnerabilities to be the lead sponsor versus safe trains act in the secure trains that natural eight hundred thousand 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 form of transportation she uses most we watched as we poured billions into air in the trains running underneath a hall where members every other day come to celebrate in the evening one or the other kind of of event this sort of columbia was driven by the vacuum to actually pay off its own moon rerouting legislation that haven't even been dismissed yet that shows you how vulnerable we are the bill finally instructs the part of homeland service to exercise leadership to use its expertise so that transit systems are not working on a case by case basis i can't we can't protect the country by shoring up one mode of transportation as a virtual e air travel but by suring up one mode of transportation we may be offering a virtual invitation to terrorists to go to the next most vulnerable target that turns out to be rail and mass transit where we can  least afford terrorist events that's where the american people are and i thank both sides of the hour for coming together on this bill to go precisely where they are to protect the public at last and i thank you mr chairman you back buses and i'm pleased to help co sponsor this legislation to correct this problem in the face of recent attacks in london and madrid and with our own subways and buses still vulnerable i'm hopeful that this legislation will make sure that the department addresses this critical work in addition to close in security gaps in rail and mass transit safety efforts and providing support and guidance for training security planning and research and development this bill contains language that i proposed requiring the department of homeland security to assess threats to our nation's children security rest school bus transportation school buses have been targets of terror throughout the world including here in the united states just last month the f b i said that members of a stream a schmoozer purchased school buses and obtain a license to operate them while adding that parents and children have to fear i do not believe we can take these assessments and face value without a comprehensive threat assessment of school bus transportation school transportation is a patchwork of systems including public  entities privately owned school buses companies contractors who provide school transportation individually owned operators of school buses who contract with school districts or school systems the risk are  understood stood as the f b i model message in the case an attack on our school buses would be a devastating not only in the law a lot of harm but also in the psychological and the symbolic impact as a former superintendent schools for the state of north carolina i know that children parents and schools deserve our school buses to get children to school as safely and as securely as possible we allow our children no less and to be able to transportation and make recommendations on how to respond to these threat the bill requires vulnerability assessments and security plans for other modes of transportation in the public trust and it should be the thank chairman thompson for the strong leadership that is shown on this bill also thank mr king for the bipartisan support that he's shown on this bill and what the committee are right in support of h r forty one the rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven h r four to know wanted to an important piece of legislation that take steps to secure our nation's roads over the robust network and the public transportation systems in addition the rowan public transportation security act includes provisions that take strides in enhancing the security of transportation systems and i critically important international land borders in my hometown of laredo texas this is one of the busiest ports of entry in the united states and i hope of international commerce approximately one thousand six hundred rail cars cross the border daily in laredo additionally one hundred sixty three thousand cars cross and lee that are loaded with freight and headed to destinations throughout the united states to meet the challenge of securing our nation's border belt ports of entry i work with  international borders a priority to receive critically important rail security grant funding authorized by this legislation i'm proud to support this legislation that will make our nations and rail transport bus systems more secure and that will thank you very much the speaker i yield to minute to form a member tell a member of the house homeland security committee must pass kayleigh new jersey it was moved home but he still has an interest in the past the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes thank you mr chairman mr chairman i rise in strong support of the rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven this is a critical legislation designed to focus on a long time ball ability that exists within our nation this bill is a real product of bipartisan cooperation so i want to commend our leader chairman bennie thompson as well as ranking member peter king both of whom i enjoyed working with and continue to work with even on not officially on the committee you've performed a tremendous service to this country and we are indebted to you your sagacity is seconded by no on we know that rail and public transportation represent a very tempting target for those who wish to do us harm harm london madrid are just two recent examples of the mass transit systems that are plagued by terrorism last year in fact the committee went to madrid to rome and to london and we saw the evil deeds of terrorists and we learn much and they learn much from us thankfully h r fourteen zero one will make needed and long overdue investments in america's public transportation to ensure that we are safer and more secure the bill provides for comprehensive mandatory training for front line workers that is sold critical for us to understand these are folks that are on the job every day transit employees must know how to identify risk and respond in case of a threat or attack and you know it's my line you know mr chairman i felt very strongly about this discussed it with both of you that we need to get more retired law enforcement into these positions of security they know how to detect the threats that are on the line the bill also enhanced is whistleblower protections i have another minute or thirty seconds or whatever a minute to the gentleman from new jersey thank you new jersey recognized for another minute the bill also enhances whistleblower protections so that workers can be free to report security concerns this is critical mr speaker this has been stalled critical in exposing the security gaps at airports throughout the united states of america if people are not free to tell us what they see day to day and are fearful that they are be reaction against them that's not good most importantly this bill provides the seven point three billion dollars to public transit agencies and track bus operators and other providers of rail and public transportation we want people to feel as safe on the trains as they are in the air we know full well that rail mass transit  speaker and i especially want to thank the chairman for his outstanding leadership it is a honor it really is a preeminent privilege to serve with him on this committee i also thank the ranking member and i would think also the  subcommittee chair sheila jackson lee from the great state of texas she and i have districts that are juxtaposed right next to each other mr chairman i am supporting this legislation because it authorizes a hundred and forty million dollars to amtrak to improve tunnels in the north northeast corridor it requires programs that will calls out transit employees to be trained on how to prevent fab prepare for and respond to terrorist attack our first line of defense will be prepared to defend as a result of this bill this bill requires that we look forward in that it authorizes two hundred million dollars over the next four years to find solutions to security threat this barrow protects those who would protect us and that the whistleblowers will be protected and i trust that  that may not be a perfect provision it is better than what we had and assure the public that this is going to help us this bill will help us to get the additional inspectors that we need we will move from one hundred inspectors to six hundred by twenty ten this bill helps us to protect america's future children in that it provides for school bus transportation security assessment this bill provides for enhanced security for  shipments of sensitive material and finally of the many things that i can say i want to remind us that this bill provides that violators of the act will be punished there are both civil and criminal penalties for for what period of time the jelly of new york is recognized for two minutes thank you very much mr speaker i wish to thank chairman thompson ranking member king chairwoman jackson lee for their vigilance on this issue i rise in support of the rail public transportation security act of two thousand zero one in the past congress has passed laws to improve ever maritime security with this bill congress is finally taking the very important step of securing america's vast ground transportation system it is particularly important for my home city of new york which is spent far more of its own treasury didn't any of a city on securing its citizens along with providing much needed funding for security improvements the mass transit bridges tunnels this bill will also help fund police counterterrorism task force to patrol the areas and react with merges the further this bill provides one hundred million dollars over the next four years to bring about long anticipated safety and security renovations at penn station which the thousands of new yorkers and tourists from around across america each day i am particularly proud of the language included in the bill that ensures labor unions will play an integral role in the solution unions will now be eligible to receive a portion of the grant funding allowing them to work hand in hand with transportation carriers on how to improve the safety of the workers and presenters alike also for some time many local governments and agencies have been concerned about their lack of involvement with the federal side of the tracks with patients security process for years federal security inspectors have refused consult with transit agencies about how best to protect their facilities this new bill will force the h s and the o t to work together with state and local governments when deciding how the federal government will interact with local security in america and i wholeheartedly recommend that my colleagues join me in voting yes for this bill thank you very much and i yield back the balance of my time delay to yield back the gentleman from new york into the reserves german gentleman from  and the ranking member for their exceptional leadership on this critical issue mr speaker i rise today in support of h r fourteen zero on the rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven and urges for passage of the measure horrific terrorist events around the world of course just to focus on rail security this bill is an important necessary step to protecting our nation's rail and transportation safety my district this home to the world renowned press but technology center and public colorado ais emergency response to training center conducts hands on hazmat training for first responders and is known in the field of the premium as the the premier graduate school for surface transportation hazmat training my good friend fellow coloradan mr perlmutter highlighted in committee the critical role the t t c i play is an advanced rail security research and development had hazmat training by making t t c i the six member of the national domestic preparedness consortium the gentleman from mississippi thank you very much committee's own homeland security and transportation bill such an outstanding piece of work for i also want to just take this opportunity to pay a serious appreciation to the chairman of homeland security to the chairman of transportation representative oberstar and to the chairman of judiciary representative john conyers i was involved in the situation with an issue that we brought to them and as a result of their humaneness their serious understanding and they recognition of the need to protect the rights of individuals throughout america i think we ended up with a bill that i am strongly in support of urge its passage and again commend all of these gentlemen for their tremendous sensitivity and hard work and it expired the gentleman from new york john choir of the gentleman how many lady from texas is recognized for three minutes let me thank the distinguished chairman of the committee and thank the ranking member and the members of the committee who worked as so diligently let me to typically thank the members of the subcommittee on transportation security and critical infrastructure each and every one of them worked tirelessly to contribute to this bill along with members of the full committee and this has been a very stiff fountain to climb very tough mountain to climb we waited for four years to travel through a number of legislative initiatives and finally we reached a point where we were able to bring to the floor a rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven  me thank the chairperson mr thompson for his vigorous leadership and his concern so much so that he all the nies and made sure that the homeland security full committee was all ghanaians to have a subcommittee that would focus on transit systems which would include over the road buses trucking and a number of other important transit systems or transportation systems that heretofore had not been covered let me also thank him for the inclusion of the aspect of critical infrastructure because interestingly enough when you look at transportation systems critical infrastructure plays into the holistic approach to security so this bill i think has a holistic approach to ensuring that we have security and it bot backdrop the tragedies of madrid and the tragedies of course of london so what we do is how do we fix the problems i think we have a hands on approach but a balanced approach between the  department of transportation homeland security we increase the number of inspectors to six hundred we require a national rail and public transportation security plan for the first time in the history of this nation we will clarify the roles and responsibilities of federal state and local agencies so that if you have a local transit agency they will have the opportunity to develop a transit security system i would encourage my colleagues as this bill makes its way that we focus on local jurisdictions having security plans it will strengthen intelligence sharing one of the achilles heels of nine eleven was that we did not share intelligence we will do that as relates to transportation system and then we'll lay out plans for public outreach an education initiative in an include strategy in timeline for research and development was expanded of course this whole idea of security to diverse groups that have not heretofore had the opportunity minority institutions minority contractors and women owned businesses that can become engaged and yes our committee had a hearing on the if you will tension but also the separation between the hiring of individuals and the requirements of railroad companies versus the requirements of the department of homeland security so w this committee and i asked my colleagues to support this bill i yield back the gentleman from new york i was chairman let me again commend chairman thompson for his very high level of cooperation for the the country was caught unaware on september eleventh we could perhaps say that we did not anticipate the ferocity of the attack or the nature of the attack on the nature of our enemy but we no longer have that excuse eleven certainly made us fully aware of how deadly our enemy is since then whether it be intelligence reports or whether it be the attacks in madrid london mumbai we realize also that  mass transit is a favored target of islamic terrorists so we have no excuses we have to move forward and that's what this legislation does it sets a coordinated net policy toward dealing attacks on our public transportation system it coordinates at the national level with the state and local officials what has to be done it provides a level of training to our transit workers from new jersey mr pascrell mentioned he and i and other a number of other members of the committee last year visited london we visited madrid we saw the extent of the carnage and the destruction there was cause we full well realize that the next terrorist attack may very well be launched from the suburbs could be brought in on the commuter train to our cities the subway systems themselves the mass transit system themselves stream we vulnerable to attack we can never be one hundred percent secure that we can probably never reach the same level of protection on a subway system a mass transit system for instance that we can arrest airports but we can do a great deal and that's what this bill does it moves  forward it provides levels of protection that we do not currently have and it's going to be an ongoing work in progress it's going to be something which requires our continued dedication a continued effort going to require a continued bipartisan effort bipartisan support and so i look forward to working with the chairman at least for the next twenty one months in his role as chairman and whatever happens after that to do to work with them because this is again an issue it's a threat that goes far beyond any type of partisan divide it's something that you bring us all together as americans there's so much that we have in common where our values and principles are sched in common that as democrats and republicans are most important as americans we can work together this bill goes very far in that direction again i commend the chairman i can