Dan Donovan: “We know that terrorists have an interest in and a track record of targeting mass transit. We saw it in London, Madrid…”

“We know that terrorists have an interest in and a track record of targeting mass transit. We saw it in London, Madrid, and Brussels, and recently, again, when a terrorist left a backpack of IEDs at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey. We must ensure that our first responders and transit agencies have the tools they need to secure our transit systems. That is why I introduced H.R. 5943, the Transit Security Grant Program Flexibility Act. This bill addresses concerns that were raised during a June 21 field hearing that the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications held in Ranking Member Payne's district on preparedness for incidents that impact surface transportation. As chairman of the subcommittee, I introduced this legislation to ensure action follows our subcommittee's oversight. Witnesses at this field hearing testified about the importance of the Transit Security Grant Program but found that the period of performance was a challenging time frame to meet, especially for completing vital, large-scale capital security projects. H.R. 5943 addresses this challenge by codifying the period of performance for Transit Security Grant Program awards at 36 months for the majority of eligible projects and by extending the period of performance for large-scale capital security projects to 55 months.…”