by the United States House of Representatives

“ So what we have done to the American people by way of congressional action is say that we are only going to allow you to have access to 8 percent of the oil and 10 percent of the natural gas. Or another way of saying it is we are going to lock up 92 percent of the oil and 90 percent of the natural gas, even though you are desperate in terms of the impact of energy price increases on your everyday living. ”

“ A secure mass transit will encourage more Americans to utilize our transit and our transportation system that is a public transit system. That is what those of us on this side of the aisle believe, a green economy, conservation, efficiency. ”

“ But, at the same time, the word "energy" is a broad term. Green energy, efficiency, conservation. That is what this Congress has to preach to the American public, and safe and secure mass transit, of which all of these legislative initiatives are planning to do.
I would ask my colleagues in particular to support the legislation presently under consideration dealing with the mass transit resolution and all the other bills that have been able to come forward out of Homeland Security and under the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection. ”

“ And as we look at the bills that we have discussed, each one of them are building blocks toward the response to the 9/11 families, who, day after day after 9/11 told this Congress to get its act together, starting first, of course, with the bill of Congresswoman Clarke that emphasizes that if we have a watch list, that watch list should be a watch list that is both accurate and secure, and that hard working Americans have to have their civil liberties protected, so if they are on the list by mistake we must avoid or find a process of appeal for the mistakes that are being made. ”

“ Last year, the FBI warned that members of extremist groups have purchased school buses and obtained licenses to operate them.
An attack on a school bus would be devastating, not only in lives harmed, but also the psychological and symbolic impact. We owe our children and their families no less than that we will be able to confidently say that their transportation is secure. ”

“ Might I just conclude by suggesting as my colleagues have discussed this whole question of energy, just think about a secure mass transit that will allow us to engage in a transit system that actually works. ”

“ We are going to be in winter, even though it seems difficult in some of these sweltering summer days or pre-summer days to think about that, but we will be in winter when we are talking about the heating needs of the American people, and we should look at the price of natural gas, as it is going up and on up and up, as are our gas prices. ”

“ As has been indicated, every day over 36 million people travel on forms of mass transit or public transportation in this country. More than 11 million commuters use rail and mass transit, while over twice this number, more than 25 million, use public or private school buses to travel to and from their schools. ”

“ Throughout the world, mass transit systems have long been targets of terrorist attacks. Algerian extremists set off bombs on the subways of Paris in 1995 and 1996; the Irish Republican Army waged a long-running terrorist campaign against the London Underground ”

“ That is why, Madam Speaker, it is disappointing to see that we have made it more difficult and more expensive for those who operate those buses and operate those trains to continue to operate because of the increasingly high energy costs. ”

“ Palestinian terrorists have carried out suicide bombings on Israeli buses. And so this legislation is to emphasize again that attacks on mass transit are possible and therefore we should look seriously at providing the security necessary. ”

“ As a result, both mass transit and rail systems are attractive targets. Since September 11, 2001, according to the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, mass transit systems have been the target of more than 145 terrorist attacks. ”

“ Because of their size, openness, and highly-networked character, there are no obvious checkpoints, like those at airports, to inspect passengers and parcels. Passengers are strangers, promising attackers anonymity and easy escape. ”