Transportation securityNew Jersey lawmakers protest transit security cuts
On Tuesday Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey) and Representative Rush Holt (D-New Jersey) urged lawmakers to restore funding for security measures to the nation’s railways; the House budget would cut funding for nine homeland security programs by 55 percent next fiscal year; in particular, funding to secure intercity passenger rail lines, freight trains, and mass transit systems would fall to $113 million down from $250 million, a 45 percent cut
On Tuesday Senator Frank Lautenberg (D – New Jersey) and Representative Rush Holt (D – New Jersey) urged lawmakers to restore funding for security measures to the nation’s railways.
In a visit to New Jersey’s Transit Center in Trenton, the two lawmakers rallied against the proposed House budget which features deep cuts to transit security.
According to Holt and Lautenberg, the House budget would cut funding for nine homeland security programs by 55 percent next fiscal year. In particular, funding to secure intercity passenger rail lines, freight trains, and mass transit systems would fall to $113 million down from $250 million, a 45 percent cut.
Holt and Lautenberg say that the cuts could not come at a worse time as recent intelligence gathered in the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound reveals that al Qaeda had aspired to attack U.S. railways.
“They want to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by attacking trains that serve those here today,” said Lautenberg, the chair of the Senate subcommittee on surface transportation. “Trains are a top target for terrorists and stations like this must be protected.”
Members of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, a rail union, and Henry Mayer, executive director of the Center for Transportation Safety, Security and Risk at Rutgers University joined the two lawmakers in protesting the budget cuts.
“Every day, my guys see how dangerous it is,” said Kevin Hussey, the vice chair of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees. “We’ve (seen) attacks in London, Madrid, Mumbai and so many others. Rail security funding should be increased, not cut.”
The proposed budget cuts come as lawmakers struggle to reduce spending and cut the deficit. In the House budget, the money cut from transportation security was diverted to help fund other homeland security programs like border security and immigration enforcement.
In passing the budget, Representative Hal Rogers (R – Kentucky), the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said, “Providing for critical national security measures is a funding priority, and I’m pleased we’ve done so expediently while still cutting spending to more sustainable levels.”
Holt disagreed with Rogers’ statements and criticized the budget for embracing a “penny-wise and pound-foolish” mentality.
“A successful attack against a Northeast Corridor rail station could cost taxpayers billions in economic damage, lost revenue, and lost jobs — above and beyond the tragic loss of life,” Holt argued.
To highlight the disparity in transit security funding, the two New Jersey lawmakers cited date from the American Public Transportation Association which showed that the government currently spends $8.67 per passenger on air security compared to four cents per passenger on transit security.
