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Take Action: Demand EPA Honesty on Environmental Aftermath from Hurricane Katrina
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
More Evidence of Homeland Insecurity
The Department of Homeland Security has failed to meet security standards set after Sept. 11, according to USA Today.
The Bush administration has missed dozens of deadlines set by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks for developing ways to protect airplanes, ships and railways from terrorists.
A plan to defend ships and ports from attack is six months overdue. Rules to protect air cargo from infiltration by terrorists are two months late. A study on the cost of giving anti-terrorism training to federal law enforcement officers who fly commercially was supposed to be done more than three years ago.
"The incompetence that we recently saw with FEMA's leadership appears to exist throughout the Homeland Security Department," said Mississippi Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. "Our nation is still vulnerable."
Some of the missed security deadlines could even have helped allay the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, according to Rep. Thompson. "Thompson said the government has yet to develop a comprehensive plan to protect roads, bridges, tunnels, power plants, pipelines and dams. He said a broad plan to protect levies and dams might have helped prevent the New Orleans levies from being breached."
From chemical plant security to food safety, insecurity in our national infrastructure is pervasive and could have devastating effects in the event of a terrorist attack or another natural disaster. Read more about national security failures in the latest Watcher: "Katrina Exposes Some, But Not All, Unmet Security and Safety Needs"
Posted by Genevieve Smith
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