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CLEVELAND, March 29 -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed
the Rail
and Public Transportation Security Act, H.R. 1401, on March
27. The
legislation passed by a vote of 299-124.
The legislation gives the Department of Homeland Security
$7.3 billion
over four years to assess risks, train workers and secure
tunnels for
roads and railways. The Senate earlier this month attached
a similar $4
billion measure to broader legislation aimed at carrying out
the
recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission.
"The passage of this much-needed rail security legislation
came after
months of hard work and lobbying by the BLET''s National Legislative
office, the Teamsters'' Government Affairs Department, and
several other
like-minded Rail Labor unions," said Don Hahs, BLET National
President.
"BLET members and their families played an important role
as well,
particularly with the election of a labor-friendly Congress
in November."
President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the bill,
specifically
objecting to whistle-blower language it said would allow employees
with
grievances to reveal security-sensitive information.
"I hope that President Bush recognizes the necessity of greater
security
on our nation's railroads, and does not follow through on
his threat to
veto this legislation," President Hahs said. "To veto this
bill for purely
political reasons would be detrimental to both railroad workers
and the
general public."
The bill included many elements that the BLET wanted in a
rail security
bill, including worker training. Under the legislation, rail
and public
transportation systems would be directed to train employees
on how to
prevent, prepare for and respond to a terrorist attack.
"We applaud the inclusion of worker training in this legislation,"
said
John Tolman, BLET Vice President and National Legislative
Representative.
"This bill includes recurrent training and periodic unannounced
exercises
for employees. The need for recurrent training for front-line
railroad
workers has long been a major theme for us, and we fully support
conducting periodic unannounced exercises so that the sufficiency
of
security plans can be tested and in order for our members
to better
understand the goals and elements of their employers' security
plans.
"We are happy that security awareness, preparedness, and response
training
for front-line railroad employees were included in the bill."
The House bill would require rail and public transit systems
to submit
vulnerability assessments and security plans to the Homeland
Security
Department, which would assign each carrier to a risk-based
tier.
It approves grants of $2.5 billion over four years for rail
security and
$3.6 billion for public transportation, with the grants to
be given out
based on priorities established by the department.
The department is also told to issue an information-sharing
plan to
strengthen intelligence updates provided to federal, state
and local
agencies and other stakeholders.
The legislation has been sent to the Senate and was referred
to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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