Lawmakers: NYC Suburbs, Approach Roads Also Need Homeland Security
WEEHAWKEN, NJ (CBSNewYork) - New York City might be the country's biggest terror target, but some lawmakers want to make sure the roads leading to it don't get neglected.
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Rep. Albio Sires (D-New Jersey, 13th District) says that the two most dangerous miles in the country are right there in his district.
"We have the Lincoln Tunnel. We have the Holland Tunnel. We have the ports. And we have a chemical plant in Kearny. If something were to happen at that plant, it could kill as many as half a million people," Sires said Friday.
Sires took House Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King of Long Island on a tour of those facilities.
"It just drove home to me again how northern New Jersey and the New York / Long Island area are all one when it comes to being a terrorist target," said King. "New York and New Jersey are bound as one when it comes to dealing with homeland security."
King says this area is at at a tipping point.
"We're talking about tunnel hardening. We're talking about radiation detection, cameras. We're talking about training," said King.
He said that funding cuts will start hurting in the next couple of years.
"We've been penalized for our success. Because there has been no attack, people, especially from other parts of the country, think the threat is gone," King added.
Sires and King are calling on those colleagues in Congress to keep the money coming.
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