REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE
NORMAN Y. MINETA
SECRETARY OF
TRANSPORTATION
CONGRESSIONAL
ECONOMIC LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
WASHINGTON,
D.C.
SEPTEMBER 25,
2002
12:00 PM
Thank you, Sam, for that generous introduction. And thank you for the opportunity to
speak with the members and supporters of the Congressional Economic Leadership
Institute.
I am proud today of the small part I played 15 years ago in
helping to found the Congressional Competitiveness Caucus, and I’m heartened to
see the familiar faces of so many of you who seek to shape, in a bipartisan way,
the issues that affect the economic future of our great Nation.
Today, we confront a more dangerous world than any of us
imagined just a year ago. And in
this new world, the security of the United States is —
and must always be — the paramount responsibility of every
level of government.
We have all learned a lot since September 11th,
2001, and so, I suspect, has Osama bin Laden.
He now knows that he cannot attack America with
impunity. He now knows that he
cannot hijack our spirit or our resolve.
And, if he doesn't know it by now, I would tell him this —
our transportation systems are more secure today than at any time in our
history; and tomorrow, they
will be even more secure still.
In the aftermath of the devastating attacks of last
September, President Bush asked the Department of Transportation to design an
aviation security system that will allow travelers to arrive safely at their
destinations, free from the threat of terrorism, but also free from unnecessary
burdens or intrusions.
We have done our best to respond, and we are well on our way
to a new system of systems that combines world-class security with world-class
customer service.
We have already placed federal screeners at more than 122 of
America’s commercial airports, including many of our busiest. Today, more than a million and a
quarter travelers will pass through airports with federalized
checkpoints.
Contrary to some published reports, we have hired nearly all
of the federal passenger screeners we will need to meet our November
19th deadline for replacing private screeners, and by the end of the
year, we expect to have over 50,000 new, highly-trained federal security
personnel on duty at our airports.
As you know, the new law sets more than two-dozen deadlines
for the TSA. Thus far, the TSA has
met every one of them, and we will continue to do so.
While we remain resolved to meet the deadlines, I am
concerned about TSA funding in the event of a long-term continuing
resolution. As you all know, I had
the privilege of serving for more than two decades in the House of
Representatives, and I learned early on the futility of trying to forecast where
Congress might end up on any given issue.
Like you, I have heard the various scenarios on the structure
of the CR, and I am working with the White House and the Congress to ensure that
TSA’s funding levels will be adequate to meet our deadlines for protecting the
security of America’s air travelers.
Simply put, the TSA needs more funds in the first several
months of FY03 than the amount a CR would ordinarily provide. In order to avoid delaying or derailing
our push to reach the remaining deadlines, we must have funding sufficient to
meet our contractual obligations.
To that end, the Administration is seeking a TSA exemption in the
continuing resolution to ensure we have the funding needed to keep our efforts
on track.
And, even though we have objectives yet to accomplish, I am
pleased to say that our success at strengthening aviation security so far has
not gone unnoticed.
The editor of Aviation Security International magazine,
someone who visits airports around the globe, applauds the job we’re doing. He says that, on a recent trip, “Every
X-ray operator seemed focused, on-the-job training was in progress and the
quality of the searches carried out were some of the best I have seen anywhere
in the world.”
Heightened security has not created an impediment to
travel. In fact, data from the
Bureau of Transportation Statistics show that only one out of every eight
passengers had to wait more than thirty minutes to complete passenger screening,
and fewer than one in ten expressed dissatisfaction with their experience at the
security checkpoint.
And, most importantly, a recent American Automobile
Association poll found a full three-fourths of all travelers surveyed think
flying is safe — up from just a third of those surveyed
in the month after the attack.
Although much of the media attention has focused on our
aviation safety efforts, we are also developing heightened security procedures
and awareness across every mode of transportation, including rail, highways,
transit, maritime, and pipelines.
Earlier this summer, President Bush announced a major
restructuring of the federal government, leading to the creation of a new
Department of Homeland Security.
The President’s plan recognizes that
we are fighting a new kind of enemy, one that plots to turn our
21st century technology, transportation and economy against us.
Currently, as you know,
homeland security responsibilities are scattered across more than 100 different
federal agencies, resulting in a lack of accountability and responsiveness. The President’s plan envisions an
efficient, coordinated and agile federal defense against terrorism.
I urge the Congress,
and in particular, the United States Senate, to match the President’s bold
vision with equally bold execution.
We have an opportunity to create an agency that takes full advantage of
21st century technology and 21st century management
techniques to confront the threats we face —
ready to fight tomorrow’s battles, not yesterday’s.
Under the President’s plan, more than half of the new
agency’s personnel and budget would come from two organizations that are
currently part of the DOT — namely, the Coast Guard and the
TSA. While I am very, very proud to
serve as their Secretary, I am also
fully committed to working with you, and the rest of the Congress, to realize
the President’s vision.
Meanwhile, as this
discussion continues and the transition process unfolds, all Americans should
rest assured that the Department of Transportation, the United States Coast
Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration will remain at the ready,
and sharply focused on our primary mission
— and that is, to keep our vital national
transportation system safe, efficient, secure and reliable.
Looking to the not-too-distant future, the Bush
Administration has begun developing a proposal for the successor to our current
surface transportation authorization statute, the Transportation Equity Act for
the 21st Century, or TEA-21.
Our proposal will seek to preserve and build upon the enormously
successful programmatic and financial reforms of both TEA-21, and its
predecessor, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.
While these two statutes provide an excellent starting point,
we have an opportunity to do much more.
To help us realize the opportunity, I have directed DOT to strive to
reach several goals in drafting a reauthorization proposal.
We must continue to assure adequate and predictable funding for investment in the Nation’s surface transportation system, including public transit. The budgetary firewalls of TEA-21 provide state and local policymakers much needed certainty in planning for transportation improvements.
We can enhance this certainty and predictability even more by
smoothing out the funding peaks and valleys that we experienced recently as a
result of RABA.
At the same time, we want to preserve funding flexibility to
allow the broadest application of federal funds to the best transportation
solutions identified by our state and local partners.
Recognizing the resource constraints faced by all levels of
government, we must expand and improve innovative financing options, so as to
encourage private sector investment in the transportation system, and look for
other inventive means to augment existing revenue streams. And, we should consider a formal process
to examine the impact of emerging technologies and alternative fuels on the
future of the Highway Trust Fund.
We must re-emphasize the security of the Nation’s surface
transportation system, providing the means and the mechanisms to perform risk
assessment and analysis, incident identification, response, and when necessary,
evacuation.
We also need to think about ways to coordinate the security
activities of the modal administrations in the DOT with those of the TSA, once
the latter agency moves to its new home at the Department Homeland
Security.
We must continue to focus on making substantial improvements
in the safety of the nation’s surface transportation system. None of us should consider it acceptable
that we suffer more than 40,000 deaths, and over 3 million injuries, annually on
our highway system.
We need to look at simplifying and consolidating Federal
transportation programs, especially in the areas of safety and public
transit. We should continue our
efforts to improve on the performance of the entire transportation system
through better planning, management, construction, operations, asset management,
maintenance and construction.
Finally, we need to meet ever-increasing capacity demands
while retaining all of the critical environmental protections that enhance our
quality of life. President Bush and
I firmly believe that Americans deserve both expanded environmental stewardship
and expedited infrastructure planning and construction.
That is the intent, and the effect, of the President’s
recently issued Executive Order. I
hope to work with state and local officials, environmental and transportation
stakeholders, our counterparts at other federal agencies, and with all of you to
ensure that vital, environmental sound transportation projects do not bog down
unnecessarily. And, I expect we
will have ample opportunity to discuss and refine these concepts in the year
ahead.
We expect Congress will have a reauthorization bill to consider shortly after it returns in January. We have a number of active working groups focused on this issue, both within the DOT and at the White House.
And, we have initiated a series of listening sessions with
the affected stakeholders, including our state and local partners, to help us in
crafting this proposal.
AIR-21, which governs our federal efforts in aviation
infrastructure investment, will be up for review next year as well, and it is
likely that the ongoing debate over Amtrak’s reauthorization will be carried out
at the same time.
The fact that these reauthorizations will be considered
simultaneously in 2003, we believe, creates a unique opportunity to have a truly
intermodal discussion of the future of transportation infrastructure
investment.
Every man, woman and child in our country has the right to
expect us to provide a safe, secure, accessible, affordable and reliable
transportation system. We will meet
their expectations.
Today, let us renew our commitment to strengthen America’s
freedom of mobility, and to enhance the capabilities of our transportation
systems to effectively grow America’s economy. We are partners in this task, and we
need to continue working together to accomplish these goals.
Thank you all. And God bless America.
# # #