Lautenberg, Holt speak out against rail security cuts

Written by jrood

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg and Representative Rush Holt joined mass transit workers at the Trenton Transit Center on Monday to oppose a Republican effort to cut rail security funding by 65 percent. "Just weeks after reports that hand written notes from Osama bin Laden were found in his compound targeting our rails, the Tea Party Republicans in the House slashed funding for rail security. The Republican cuts to homeland security funding are reckless and dangerous for New Jersey and I'm going to fight in the senate to defeat them," said Sen. Lautenberg, who is also the vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on homeland security, which has jurisdiction over rail security funding. Since 2004, terrorist cells have conducted deadly bombings on major passenger rail systems in Spain, the United Kingdom, India and Belarus, with more than 600 people killed and more than 3,200 wounded. Under the House version of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month, security programs for intercity passenger rail, freight rail and mass transit would fall by 65 percent below the administration's 2012 budget request. Rep. Holt co-sponsored an amendment that would have reversed many of the cuts, but his proposal failed on an almost entirely party-line vote. Under current law, transit security is underfunded and has persisted despite ongoing threats to surface modes of transportation. Aviation receives 12 times as much security funding despite the fact that surface transit provides 18 times as many passenger trips.    

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