Speech by Rep. Diane Watson (D-California), April 3, 2003

Speech by Rep. Diane Watson (D-California), April 3, 2003

Ms. WATSON. Mr. Chairman, I support the McGovern amendment because Los Angeles is a very likely target for a terrorist attack. Our city is known worldwide for its famous landmarks and notable economic assets.

[Time: 17:30]
Local transportation hubs, such as the port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport, are the transit points each day for thousands and millions of people and millions of dollars' worth of goods.

LAX is a center of international tourism, not just for the Southern California area but for the Nation as a whole, accomodating more than 60 million passengers from 28 different countries. LAX handles more than 2 million tons of airborne cargo each year.

We talk about the lives of people being affected by drugs coming up from Colombia, but what about the lives of people who might be at the wrong place at the wrong time because they happen to be at LAX, and we have not allocated the funds to help the first responders?

Mr. Chairman, it is a matter of priority. As we have heard over and over

[Page: H2769]
again this afternoon, money has been allocated to Colombia, but not a dime has been allocated to help the first responders handle an incident at Los Angeles Airport, or at Los Angeles' ports.
Mr. Chairman, I ask the Members not to leave us that vulnerable. When we talk about life, think about the lives that could be lost because we do not have the first responders funded to be able to meet the need.

I urge an ``aye'' vote on this amendment.

As of April 18, 2003, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r108:@FIELD(FLD003+h)+@FIELD(DDATE+20030403)