July 18, 2005: NORTON SEEKS TO RESTORE MASS TRANSIT FUNDING FOLLOWING LONDON ATTACK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18, 2005

NORTON SEEKS TO RESTORE MASS TRANSIT FUNDING FOLLOWING LONDON ATTACK

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today she would circulate a letter from the regional delegation seeking at conference to restore funds just cut by the Senate. “We thought that with the Senate homeland security spending bill coming a week after the terrorist attack on London’s public transportation had left so many dead and injured, we might at least get the promise we had of equal treatment with port funding security.” This year’s House bill has $150 million for public transportation and $150 million for port security, but last week the Senate passed $200 million for ports and only $100 million for public transportation security, a $50 million cut. Norton decried “the zero sum game that’s being played,” and said, “It’s unthinkable that our response to London would be to reduce funding for mass transit and rail. What are millions of people that ride subways, buses, Amtrak and other public transportation to think about the Congress’s homeland security priorities?” The President’s budget eliminated dedicated funding for public transportation security.

Norton, a member of the Homeland Security and the Transportation Committees, is the chief sponsor of the Secure TRAINS (Transit and Railroads across America and Investment in National Security) Act, which is a sharp departure from past approaches to homeland security funding. “Far from throwing money at a problem,” Norton said that her bill would have authorized $3.8 billion for competitive grants, for the basics, using the formula that all agree is appropriate – threat, vulnerability, and consequences. “In the absence of a comprehensive bill, like Secure TRAINS, she said, “at least some greater targeted funding is indispensable or it will be hard for people to believe that Congress takes their daily security seriously.” When Congress recesses in August, the Congresswoman said, Members will find “the concern has shifted from suicide bombs in Iraq to the very real possibility of such attacks at home on the daily journey to and from school and work.” The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has listed among its needs such basics as decontamination equipment, detection and surveillance enhancements, upgrading the passenger communication system, and video cameras for buses.