Implementing The 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007

IMPLEMENTING THE 9/11 COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - January 09, 2007)

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Ms. SCHWARTZ. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand here today as we deliver on one of the most important campaign promises our party made to the American people, implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations. Today we will take steps to improve our Nation's aviation, port and transportation security. We will strengthen government intelligence and information sharing, and we will prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. And we will create a dedicated source of funding to provide first responders with communications interoperability equipment that will allow our first responders to communicate across departmental and jurisdictional lines during emergencies.

It was over 5 years ago when evacuation orders were not heard in the towers of the World Trade Center because police and fire fighters and other emergency personnel simply could not talk to each other. The Federal Government failed to act. And these same communication problems happened again during the failed response following Hurricane Katrina.

As a representative of the Philadelphia region, a major population, commerce, and transportation hub, I share the opinion that we have to do something about this. It is scandalous not to act.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand with you as we deliver on one of the most important campaign promises our party made to the American people.

Today, we will implement the bipartisan 9/11 Commission's recommendations. And, today we will make our Nation safer.

We will: improve our Nation's aviation, port and transportation security; strengthen government intelligence and information sharing; help reduce the appeal of extremism abroad; and prevent terrorists from acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction.

We will also create a dedicated source of funding to provide first responders with communications interoperability--the type of equipment that allows local, state, and regional first responders to communicate with one another during emergencies.

We know that the inability to communicate across department and jurisdiction lines impedes first responder's ability to address emergency situations. It was over five years ago when evacuation orders were not heard in the towers of the World Trade Center because the police, fire fighters and other emergency personnel simply could not speak to each other.

Despite this, the Federal Government failed to act and these very same communications problems happened again during the failed response and recovery efforts in the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina. Prompting, in part, Thomas Kean, former chair of the 9/11 Commission, to call the Republican-led Congress' lack of progress on this issue scandalous.

However, local communities across the Nation have been moving forward--despite little leadership from the Federal level. In my region, the Philadelphia Police Department along with Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority are working to address the fact that their radio systems are not compatible--making it virtually impossible for them to communicate should a coordinated response be necessary.

I have been working closely with city and transit officials to find interim remedies to this problem. However, it has been a difficult task, in large part, because of the lack of guidance and resources provided by the Federal Government. In fact, when they applied for a grant to help fund an interoperable communications system, the Department of Homeland Security denied their request. This denial leaves the city of Philadelphia, its transit system and the millions of daily riders, residents and workers in the region vulnerable to attack. It also leaves the city's first responders less prepared than need to be to protect the fifth largest metropolitan region in the country.

But, Mr. Speaker, today is a new day. It is a day when Congress acknowledges our Nation's first responders--police officers, fire fighters, medics. It is a day when we give these brave women and men the tools to properly aid their fellow Americans in need of help.

The aptly numbered bill--H.R. 1--will pass this body within the first 100 legislative hours of the 110th Congress, and it demonstrates that the Democratic-led Congress' top priority is protecting and ensuring the safety of the American people.

Thank you and I urge a ``yes' vote on implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

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