Steve Lynch: “I rise in support of the underlying bill, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, and I want to congratulate…”

“I rise in support of the underlying bill, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, and I want to congratulate the chairman, Mr. Oberstar, and also the ranking member for their great work on this. However, I remain troubled by one underlying issue. As evidenced by the terrorist attacks against rail systems in Madrid and in London and in Moscow and in Tokyo and Mumbai, and 3 days ago in Algeria, terrorists have demonstrated their intent to continue to target public transit systems as a favored tactic against civilian populations. In response to this continued threat, Congress in the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue comprehensive rail and transit worker training directives to prepare our rail workers and transit workers to prevent and respond to potential terrorist attacks against our public transit systems.”