Norton at Homeland Security Press Conference with Democratic Leaders Finds Dangers and Poor Progress Here and in the Nation

Norton at Homeland Security Press Conference with Democratic Leaders Finds Dangers and Poor Progress Here and in the Nation

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a Member of the Homeland Security Committee, joined a news conference today with Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Minority Whip, and Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member, to release a report by the Democrats on preparedness since 9/11. Norton said, "After 9/11, Congress and the administration promised that we would never be caught flatfooted again. Yet, five years later, we are still struggling with the basics of public transportation and other vital areas requiring security improvements for chemical and nuclear plants."

The full text of Norton's statement follows.

On Monday, Americans and people around the world will pause to remember the functional equivalent of a Pearl Harbor attack on New York City, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Our country united behind our President to protect the homeland, first to repel al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and then to assure that no such attack could occur again. However, a year and a half after 9/11, the Bush administration started another war a world away, draining focus, money, energy, and most seriously, priority from protecting the homeland. The 40% cut in homeland security funds this year for D.C. and New York, where we were catastrophically hit on 9/11, dramatically illustrates the effects of confused priorities and the failure to change "the underlying statutory authority for homeland security grants…diluting the national security benefits," according to the 9/11 Commission.

The Five Year Report the Democrats offer today uses the landmark bipartisan 9/11 Report against which to measure what has been done in all the most vital areas. We then lay out exactly what Democrats would do to produce urgently needed progress. Ominously, from border security to private sector preparedness, we must candidly conclude that America is not prepared to respond to another attack.

As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I have seen slow progress in some areas and virtually none in others. A prime example of missing progress is rail and mass transportation, even after the Madrid and London bombings showed that terrorists have added a new M.O. to their destruction arsenal. Five years after 9/11, we still have no national strategy for securing the public transportation most used by the American people—Amtrak and subways like Metro, intra-city rail and busses.

For two years, I have been the chief sponsor of the Secure TRAINS Act with many Democratic sponsors and no Republicans. Understandably since 9/11, Congress has appropriated $21 billion for air travel security. However, with nine billion public transportation passenger trips annually, $250 million in dedicated funding for mass and rail transit is inexcusable and dangerous. Astonishingly, the President's proposed 2006 budget actually eliminated funding for public transportation security. The White House wanted to squeeze public transportation in with ports or first responders to compete for funds.

After 9/11, Congress and the administration promised that we would never be caught flatfooted again. Yet, five years later we are still struggling with the basics of public transportation and other vital areas requiring security improvements for chemical and nuclear plants.

http://www.norton.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=428&Itemid=6