I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1116 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out activities to 
assess and reduce the vulnerabilities of public transportation systems. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 3, 2005 
Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out 
activities to assess and reduce the vulnerabilities of pub-
lic transportation systems. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Transportation 
Systems Vulnerability Assessment and Reduction Act of 
2005’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) FRONTLINE
TRANSIT
EMPLOYEE.—The 
term ‘‘frontline transit employee’’ means an em-
ployee of a mass transportation agency who is a bus 
or rail operator, mechanic, customer service rep-
resentative, maintenance employee, or transit police 
or security officer and other individuals designated 
by the Secretary. 
(2) ELIGIBLE TRANSPORTATION AGENCY.—The 
term ‘‘eligible transportation agency’’ means a des-
ignated recipient as defined in section 5307(a) of 
title 49, United States Code, and any other trans-
portation agency designated by the Secretary. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Homeland Security. 
SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF DUTIES. 
All duties vested in the Secretary under this Act shall 
be carried out by the Secretary acting jointly with the Sec-
retary of Transportation. 
SEC. 4. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS VULNER-
ABILITY ASSESSMENTS. 
(a) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall— 
(1) conduct a review of all government assess-
ments conducted after September 11, 2001, of ter-
rorist-related threats to all forms of public transpor-
tation, including public gathering areas related to 
public transportation; 
(2) ensure that the assessment of each public 
transportation system identifies— 
(A) the critical assets of the system; 
(B) threats to those assets; 
(C) security weaknesses in the system and 
its assets; 
(D) redundant and backup systems re-
quired to ensure the continued operation of crit-
ical elements of the system in the event of an 
attack or other incident; and 
(E) the extent to which frontline transit 
employees have received training in security 
awareness and emergency preparedness and re-
sponse procedures; and 
(3) as necessary, conduct additional assess-
ments of vulnerabilities associated with any public 
transportation system. 
(b) REPORTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall transmit to the President and Congress 
a report on the results of the review and assess-
ments conducted under this subsection (a), including
the Secretary’s recommendations for legislative and 
administrative actions. 
(2) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall update the 
report annually for 2 years and transmit the up-
dated reports to the President and Congress. 
SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RE-
SPONSE TRAINING OF FRONTLINE TRANSIT 
EMPLOYEES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants 
to eligible transportation agencies for— 
(1) the training of frontline transit employees 
in emergency preparedness and response activities; 
and 
(2) the acquisition of equipment and tech-
nologies, approved by the Secretary, to assist in car-
rying out such training and activities. 
(b) TRAINING ACTIVITIES.—Training activities under 
subsection (a)(1) may include the teaching of best practice 
methods, planning, testing, drills, and the development of 
agency and regional emergency preparedness and response 
programs. 
(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 
this section, an eligible transportation agency shall submit 
to the Secretary an application at the time and containing 
the information that the Secretary requires by regulation.