| Democrats
Fight for Implementation of the 9/11 Recommendations
WASHINGTON
-- With America still less
safe than it should be five years after 9/11, Senate Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, Senator
Debbie Stabenow, former 9/11 Commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste, Wayne
County Sheriff Warren Evans, International Association of Firefighters
President Harold Schaitberger, and American Federation of Government
Employees President John Gage today joined to call for a change.
While
President Bush and previous Congresses have chosen to delay solutions,
the leaders today signaled their intent to push for the implementation
of the recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission as soon
as
possible.
Though more
than five years have passed since the terrorist attacks, two
years since the 9/11 Commission released its landmark report, and
over a
year since the Bush Administration received D's and F's from the
Commission for its implementation of the necessary changes, roughly
half
of the Commission's recommendations still remain unaddressed or
unfinished. For example, mass transit security, equipment and technology
interoperability for first responders, border security, airline
security, and more are still woefully lacking.
"Every
day that we don't act is another day in which we are not as
secure here at home as we should be," said Senator Lieberman.
"This bill
would create an all-hazards strategy to strengthen our homeland
security
against the threat of terrorist attack but also to be able to prepare
for and recover from natural disasters. We've studied. We've reflected.
And now, with a real sense of urgency, it is time to act to build
a
safer and more secure nation for the generations to come."
"Because
of the communications failures on 9-11, too many police and
firefighters ran into the Twin Towers when they should have been
running
out," Senator Stabenow said. "Over five years after these
attacks it is
shameful we have made so little progress to solve this problem.
The
9-11 Commission has made clear what needs to be done, and I'm proud
that
this legislation will help to secure the updated, compatible equipment
America's first responders need to keep our communities safe and
respond
to threats."
"The
recommendations we made in July 2004 were designed to improve our
homeland security and make all of us safer," said 9/11 Commissioner
Richard Ben-Veniste. "For too long, action has taken a back
seat to
rhetoric in Congress. I am pleased to see this Congress taking
meaningful action."
"Local
police officers and fire fighters are every community's first
responders," said Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans. "In
a major border
community such as Detroit, with its many critical assets, various
agencies need to be able to communicate with each other in an emergency.
For that to happen, we need the federal government as an active
partner
and we need help paying for the equipment we need. This bill is
long
overdue."
With the
American people still not as safe as they should be, change is
needed now. Democrats will complete implementation of the 9/11
Commission's recommendations to ensure rail, airline, and border
security; block terrorists from traveling freely into the country;
improving intelligence sharing at all levels of state, local, and
federal law enforcement; and give first responders the tools they
need
to keep us safe. The American people demanded a new direction, and
Democrats are working to give them the security they deserve.
Source:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
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