Biden chides Bush not doing enough on rail security

"In the year since terrorists bombed commuter trains in Madrid, the Bush administration 'has done next to nothing to protect passenger rails,' Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, said at a press conference March 10.

"The White House budget proposal for the Homeland Security Department for fiscal 2006 sets aside just $32 million for rail security. However, David Stone, chief of the department’s Transportation Security Administration, said in a congressional hearing March 3 that the line item is adequate, because additional grant money is flowing to state and local governments that can be used, in part, for securing mass transit systems.

"Republicans have raised concerns about protecting rails from terrorists as well.

"'Given the Madrid bombings and recent actions to limit hazmat cargo shipments in the District of Columbia, I would think TSA would have increased its budget for rail security, not decreased it,' Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security, said at the March 3 hearing."
in washington technology.com