James Norton: “Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff came before our Committee on Homeland Security with his second review of the…”

“Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff came before our Committee on Homeland Security with his second review of the agency. It was an impressive review. Of course, the promise lies in the implementation, but he has done a competent job there. Astonishingly, though, Madam Speaker, he mentioned not one word about London or about the vulnerability of rail and public transportation in the United States, even though we are barely 10 days out of London. There was, as we stood here this morning, a moment in solidarity with those who died in London. Madam Speaker, WMATA, our own Metro system here, is considerably ahead of most of the country. In fact, WMATA is designated as the lead agency for emergency coordination for the entire region's transit and commuter rail. We are ahead of most of the country, after Oklahoma City began to take real action that most still have not begun to take. In June, 19 million people rode WMATA. That breaks all of its records. Many of those were constituents of the Members of this House and the Senate, because 20 million visitors come annually to the District of Columbia. WMATA indicates that its most pressing needs are current WMD detection equipment, decontamination equipment and testing, surveillance systems, antiterror equipment for transit police, video cameras for buses. Remember, this is one of the best prepared systems in the country.…”