The Honorable John Thune
Chairman
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
512 Dirksen Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Bill Nelson
Ranking Member
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
425 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Deb Fischer
Chairman
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
United States Senate
227 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510 ​

The Honorable Cory Booker
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
United States Senate
427 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson, Chairman Fischer, and Ranking Member Booker:

On behalf of the more than 1,500 member organizations of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the billions of public transportation riders across the nation, I thank you for your leadership in reintroducing the “Surface and Maritime Transportation Security Act.” The recent St. Petersburg subway bombings confirm transit infrastructure continues to be a target for terrorist attacks. As so, the public transportation industry will continue working diligently to develop technologies, protocols, and security systems to protect our riders and employees.

The industry welcomes the added provisions of the new bill that attempt to address the tremendous unmet need for additional security funding and resources. I urge the Committee to advance a bill with a robust authorization for transit security funding.

We also appreciate the bill’s focus on evaluating efficient methods to allocate federal transit security resources and the opportunity for APTA members to offer input on the bill. We look forward to working with you as the legislative process continues.

Sincerely,

Richard A. White

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