Providing for Consideration of H. R. 1817, Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I very much thank the gentlewoman from New York for yielding me this time.

I must say I am grateful for small favors. This is, after all, the first authorization bill, almost 4 years after 9/11. But for that, the credit is due to the gentleman from California (Chairman Cox) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), ranking member, for working collaboratively and, in doing so, establishing the jurisdiction of our committee and their jurisdiction over the Department. These are not small matters.

I am grateful as well that an amendment of mine on rail safety is in the bill. It is so basic that it does tell us a lot about my disappointment that this bill simply does not address rail safety even though that is where the people are. I do have report language in the bill, and the gentleman from California (Chairman Cox) worked hard to make sure that he got as much in the bill as he could. However, he was under powerful constraints. We were noticed that no amendment that, in fact, called for authorization of a single dollar extra would be allowed in the bill. We have just heard about the problem four blocks from the Capitol with hazardous substances going by and the embarrassment that I think the Congress should feel that there has been no administrative action to do anything about it, and so there was a lawsuit actually won at the first level because of the danger posed when Congress does not act and local jurisdictions stepped forward.

We do have to get to work, and if Members do not believe me, remember last Wednesday in the rush from the Capitol. It was not a comedy of errors. Indeed, it was not very funny because these were not mistakes. What we had were huge questions opened up. Not everything was done that should have been done, but we do know what should have been done in the first place. Do we know why the plane came so close, why the President was not informed, why the District of Columbia was not informed even though there was a sergeant sitting right there in the Department of Homeland Security? Above all, why were we not in the basement of the Capitol rather than out on the streets when there was such a small plane involved and we were probably in greater danger on evacuation.

Lots of work. Let us begin to do it today.

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