CIAO DATE: 10/05

Mass Transit Security after the London Bombings

Testimony before the Massachussets Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security

Good morning Chairwoman Rivera, Chairman Barrios and distinguished members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today to discuss mass transit security and the MBTA in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in London.

For the record, I am Research Director of the Homeland Security Partnership Initiative and fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Previously, I served as a professional staff member on the Select Committee on Homeland Security in the U.S. House of Representatives, where I was responsible for critical infrastructure issues including transportation security. In that capacity, I was the primary author of a comprehensive transit security bill, the Safe TRAINS Act introduced in the 108th Congress by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and reintroduced in the 109th Congress as the Secure TRAINS Act. On the Committee, I authored a comprehensive report on mass-transit security, "America at Risk: Closing the Public Transportation Security Gap."

I have served as an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations with an expertise on homeland security and counterterrorism issues. I am also privileged to serve as an associate member of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age and the Center for Strategic and International Studies/ Heritage Foundation Task Force Examining the Roles, Missions, and Organization of the Department of Homeland Security. The Markle Task Force has been instrumental in shaping national debate and policy on improving information sharing, while the CSIS/Heritage Task Force played an influential role in the recently announced restructuring of the Department of Homeland Security.

My written testimony today will focus on the vulnerability of public transportation generally and does not specifically address measures taken by the MBTA. Today's other witnesses are far more expert on the transit system that they so capably oversee. My comments are intended to provide context, advance the insights, and complement the testimony already provided by the previous witnesses.

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