Alcee Hastings: “When the House passed this bill in May, it passed by a wide bipartisan margin and focused exclusively on port security…”

“When the House passed this bill in May, it passed by a wide bipartisan margin and focused exclusively on port security issues. When the Senate took up this bill, however, it broadened the scope of this legislation to address the gaping security holes in our country's rail, subway, bus and trucking system. Secretary Chertoff and the House Republicans called these new sections ``goulash.'' I think they are good policy, and I think they should be part of the bill we send to the President today. If we can stick unrelated gambling legislation into this conference report, Mr. Speaker, why cannot we include legislation that will improve our mass transit and rail security? Mr. Speaker, the 9/11 Commission noted in its final report that our surface transportation systems such as railroads and mass transit remain hard to protect because they are so accessible and extensive. We all know that Congress has not done enough to address this problem. So let's take this final opportunity to make some progress by including the Senate language.”