Political Quotes

“Over the past week, officials have announced that preliminary intelligence gathered from Osama bin Laden's Pakistan hideout shows that al Qaeda had been plotting a terrorist attack on our Nation's rail system. While roughly 1.7 million passengers ride on domestic and international flights daily, every weekday 34 million Americans ride on trains and transit systems. The issue of rail security is more relevant now than ever. And I'm here today to argue for making rail security a national intelligence priority. On March 11, 2004, nearly 200 people were killed in Madrid as a result of a terrorist bombing while riding the commuter rail to work. In 2005, over 50 people were killed and 700 injured on the London transit system in a series of explosions during the morning rush hour. An attack on our rail system here in the United States would be devastating. It would almost certainly result in the loss of life. Clearly, terrorist organizations around the world have made rail systems a target. I strongly believe that we need to address the vulnerabilities in our rail system by ensuring that rail security is one of our Nation's top intelligence priorities. That's why I offered this amendment directing the intelligence community to include rail and subway transit security in its transportation security plans and budgets. The 9/11 Commission report found that over 90 percent of the Nation's annual investment in transportation security is spent on aviation security.…”