Pennsylvania Congressman Voted to Implement the Bipartisan 9/11 Commission’s Recommendations Aimed at Increasing Security at Home and Abroad

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8th District), former U.S. Army Captain and Iraq war veteran, voted to make our nation safer by implementing the bipartisan 9/11 Commission’s recommendations. These recommendations went unfulfilled in the last Congress and were designed to improve homeland security, prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, and develop strategies for preventing the spread of radical Islamic terrorism. The bill on the 9/11 recommendations passed the House by a bipartisan majority of 299-128.

“Implementing the bipartisan recommendations of the 9/11 Commission is an important first step toward making our country more secure,” said Congressman Patrick Murphy. “The 9/11 Commissioners graded Congress and the president with 5 F’s, 12 D’s and 2 ‘incompletes.’ As a former educator at West Point, I can tell you that with failing grades like that, change is long overdue. The 9/11 Commission put forth specific steps to address the security shortfalls they discovered after September 11th, and implementing these recommendations will improve our nation’s security – it’s as simple as that.”

Some of the long-overdue steps that will substantially improve homeland security include:

• Helping to provide first responders with the type of equipment that allows them to communicate more efficiently during emergencies
• Phasing in a requirement of 100% inspection of the cargo carried on passenger aircraft over the next three years (most of this cargo is still not inspected)
• Quickly accelerating the installation of explosive detection systems for checked baggage at the nation’s airports
• Improving explosive detection systems at passenger checkpoints at the nation’s airports
• Phasing in a requirement of 100% scanning of U.S.-bound shipping containers over the next five years

The bill also includes provisions to better prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction (WMD), such as:

• Strengthening the Cooperative Threat Reduction (“Nunn-Lugar”) program that focuses on securing loose nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union
• Providing increased tools for the Proliferation Security Initiative, through which the U.S. and participating countries interdict WMD
• Establishing a U.S. Coordinator for the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism at the White House, who would serve as a presidential advisor on proliferation issues

Finally, the bill also aims to slow the spread of radical extremism by:

• Providing for the establishment of a Middle East Foundation, to promote economic opportunities, education reform, human rights and democratic processes in the countries of the Middle East
• Promoting quality educational opportunities for youth in Arab and other predominantly Muslim countries, including expanding U.S. scholarship and exchange programs.

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For Immediate Release, January 9, 2007
CONTACT: Adam Abrams, (202) 225-4276