Boxer Pushes Rail Security Measure

Rail systems in Los Angeles and elsewhere are vulnerable to terrorist attack, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said Wednesday, urging passage of legislation that would provide millions for rail security.

The Rail Transportation Security Act of 2004, which Boxer co-sponsored, would allocate more than $400 million for security improvements on Amtrak and freight rail systems. They would include train tracking systems, additional police and security officers, and surveillance and communications equipment.

“We are vulnerable here, just as we are in rail systems throughout the state and throughout this country,” Boxer said at a news conference at Union Station. “We need to do more, and we need to do it quickly.”

The bill has been passed by the Senate Commerce Committee and will be taken up by the full Senate.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, chairman of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, agreed with Boxer.

“In the aftermath of the disaster in Madrid, any metropolitan transit authority in the United States has to have its head examined if it doesn’t move quickly to do what needs to be done to secure its riders,” Yaroslavsky said. “And our government in Washington needs to move swiftly now, before another incident happens, to give us the tools to protect ourselves.”

Earlier this month, Boxer introduced a bill to increase rail security on the local level. That bill would authorize $500 million each year for five years for more police, canine units and surveillance equipment on transportation systems, including trolleys and buses.

Boxer said the Senate Commerce Committee wanted to move quickly on the first bill, which would affect interstate transportation systems.

Of the second bill, she said: “They are going to make an argument that that’s up to the local people. But I take a different view; it’s all the same people that we’re protecting -- our people. Terrorism is a national threat, and it could strike us anywhere.”