On January 9, I joined my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in passing a measure by a vote of 299 to 128 to carry out the recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission to improve homeland security efforts and make our country safer.
 
In 2002, Congress passed and funded the distinguished panel to investigate and report on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our country. In spite of the urgency and critical nature of the panel's report and recommendations, the Bush Administration and the Republican-led Congress failed to implement key recommendations that would improve the defense of our nation such as enhancing homeland security and developing strategies to prevent the spread of terrorism and the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by terrorists.

Putting into action only a few of the commission's carefully thought-out recommendations did only half the job. And we all know that protecting America is a full-time job requiring full-time vigilance and full-time protection. This is especially true in today's post-9/11 world.

For the past four years, I have had the privilege of serving on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. As a member of that subcommittee, I heard testimony and attended briefings from officials at the Department of Homeland Security that brought to light the shortcomings of this department and its failure to meet its mandate to secure our borders and protect our country. The then-chairman of the committee even withheld funding due to the department's unresponsiveness and apparent lack of urgency about its mission. Protecting our country must be our government's number one priority. If that mission lacks urgency by the very agency created to protect us, we will continue to remain dangerously vulnerable to those who would harm us.

I believe that putting into action all of the commission's recommendations is urgently needed to help protect our country against a terrorist attack. And under our new Democratic leadership, which will be vigilant in its oversight and in holding the administration accountable, I am confident Democrats will push this agency beyond its bureaucratic lethargy to take the steps necessary to secure our homeland and protect our fellow Americans.

While I endorse the entire package of recommendations contained in the measure passed by the House, I am particularly pleased to note that it includes several of the issues I addressed in hearings before the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. These issues are critically important to our nation and the communities I represent in Los Angeles.

First among them is interoperable communications which enables police officers, firefighters and other first responders employed by different agencies and in different jurisdictions to readily communicate with each other. Our country lost many heroic first responders on that fateful September morning because they were unable to receive the message to evacuate the Twin Towers. Incredibly, five years after 9/11, this serious problem of interoperable communications continues to plague our emergency responders. This is particularly true for first responders in districts like mine, where various communities are covered by multiple jurisdictions of police, sheriff, and fire departments.

I am very pleased that included in this bill is the 9/11 Commission's recommendation to create a grant program for interoperable communications with a dedicated stream of funding. This will greatly enhance the ability of our first responders to close this extremely serious communications gap.

Another issue of great concern to my constituents is currently being addressed at Los Angeles world airports. It is the installation of in-line detection systems for checked baggage on commercial airliners. The commission's recommendations in this bill call for accelerating the installation of in-line explosive detection systems at all major airports.
The cargo hold of airplanes, filled with baggage, has often been called the ``soft underbelly'' of our aviation transportation system. By placing state-of-the-art detection systems in our nation's airport, we will harden that vulnerable soft spot and protect the flying public. And by consolidating the handling of baggage and screening equipment, we will accelerate the movement of goods, passengers, and cargo.
 
In committee I have also consistently raised my concerns about the security of cargo containers entering ports such as the Los Angeles-Long Beach Port Complex. I am very pleased that this bill goes beyond the commission's recommendations by requiring, within five years, 100 percent scanning of U.S.-bound shipping containers.

We are very fortunate there has not been a port-centered attack on our nation. As we saw during the 2002 labor dispute that closed the Los Angeles-Long Beach Port Complex and cost the national economy $1 billion per day, any long-term disruption of our national maritime trade would have a devastating effect on our nation's economy as well as the rest of the world.

While some critics might complain about the cost involved in scanning these cargo containers, we cannot afford to be penny-wise and pound foolish when it comes to our security. We must make the necessary investments. The added cost of security in our post 9/11 era is the price we must pay to protect American lives and our nation. If we do not make this investment, the cost could be much higher not just in dollars but in lives.

And finally, among other critical needs addressed by the 9/11 Commission, is the need to significantly increase the number of state homeland security grants and award them on the basis of risk. While it is true we must make every effort to protect all parts of our country, given our limited funds, we must prioritize our security weaknesses and allocate these scarce funds first to the areas most at risk of an attack.  It was therefore welcomed news that the Department of Homeland Security recently announced it will commit more than 55 percent of urban area grant funds to the six urban areas facing the highest threat of terrorist attacks, including the Los Angeles region.

To paraphrase the former Homeland Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Hal Rogers, those who seek to harm us have to get it right only occasionally, while those of us working to protect America have to get it right 100 percent of the time. Fully implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission is a critical step toward ``getting it right'' and moving our nation forward to our 100 percent goal of fully protecting our United States of America.

(Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard’s office offers a wide variety of services to the community, including financial aid workshops, a service academy workshop, a scholarship directory and constituent casework services to assist district residents in resolving problems with federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  More information about federal services can be obtained by visiting Congresswoman Roybal-Allard’s web site at www.house.gov/roybal-allard or by calling her district office at (213) 628-9230.)
 

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