By Associated Press
Washington, DC – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton charged Friday that the Bush administration has failed to deliver needed rail and subway security to deter a London-style attack on commuters. <
Clinton, who is pushing for more federal dollars for high-tech terror prevention, said the Department of Homeland Security has been slow to distribute most of the $150 million given by Congress for rail and transit protection.
"I'm absolutely outraged by the failure of the administration to release the funding that Congress approved last year," said Clinton. "I just don't understand what the holdup is."
Hear Senator Clinton's comments on WBFO's "Morning Edition," Monday at 6:30 and 8:30am.
Clinton and eight other Democratic senators sent a letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff Friday urging him to distribute the unused money quickly.
A DHS spokesman did not immediately return calls for comment. The agency has looked at high-tech ways to improve transit security but hasn't instituted anything since testing a system last year.
Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. has directed about $300 million specifically for rail security. Clinton argued that should be closer to $7 billion as part of a nationwide, comprehensive transit plan.
The senator argued New York and other metropolitan areas should use more of the security cameras prevalent throughout London. Investigators piecing together clues from Thursday's bombing are reviewing many tapes from those cameras to try to identify the culprits.
"We are woefully behind where London and other subway systems are because London does have the video surveillance," she said, adding that the cameras "at least will get good evidence to go after the people who did this."
The New York area represents about one-third of the 29 million riders who use rail systems on an average workday.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he will push next week for the Senate to quadruple the $100 million amount currently offered by Congress to help local authorities protect transit systems.
Many lawmakers from densely populated areas have complained that since 2001, the federal government has wasted homeland security money by spreading it out to rural areas where the risk of terror attacks is relatively low.
Clinton argued the London attacks are another sign that the government needs to send a greater share of anti-terror money to cities.
"Too much money has been wasted. It's just been sent around the countryside it hasn't been focused on what the major targets are," she said.