The bill, H.R. 549, also would establish a breeding program for bomb-sniffing dogs, which counterterror authorities told HSToday.us need to be used in greater numbers on subways and passenger trains across the country if they are to be a consistently effective deterrent. Supporters of the bill hope that the program not only would increase the numbers of bomb sniffing canines used by the Transportation Security Administration, but that they also would be made available to transit authorities in order to increase the presence of these dogs on transit systems nationwide.

Introduced by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the ranking member on the House Committee on Homeland Security and co-sponsored by Committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the bill is designed to address growing concerns that terrorists may try to target mass transit systems in the United States. Public transportation systems like subways and trains increasingly are targets of terrorists around the world.

In April, Homeland Security Today will report on the state of the security of the nation’s mass transit systems, especially from attacks using small but powerful bombs.

Between 1995 and June 2005, there were over 250 attacks on passenger rail systems worldwide resulting in nearly 2,000 deaths and 8,000 injuries. Between 1991 and 2001, 42 percent of all terrorist attacks were directed against mass transit.

“This underscores a trend that should be a priority issue in the United States,” warned longtime RAND Corp. counterterrorism expert Brian Jenkins. “Public surface transportation offers terrorists easily accessible, dense populations in confined environments – ideal killing zones for gunmen or improvised explosive devices, which remain the most common form of attack.”

According to analysis by the Mineta Transportation Institute’s National Transportation Security Center, two-thirds of all terrorist attacks on surface transportation were intended to kill; 37 percent resulted in fatalities (compared with between 20 and 25 percent of terrorist attacks overall); 75 percent of the fatal attacks involved multiple fatalities; and 28 percent of those involved 10 or more fatalities.”

Former FBI counterterrorist, CIA consultant and deputy director of the Oklahoma City-based Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism – which has begun to conduct training classes for law enforcement and first responders to deal with improvised explosive devices – told HSToday.us the bill would greatly improve DHS’s counter-bomb initiatives and strengthen the capabilities of local mass transit security to detect and prevent terrorist bombings.

King’s legislation, which is now pending action in the Senate, would create an Office for Bombing Prevention within the Protective Security Coordination Division of the Office of Infrastructure Protection. The office would have the primary responsibility for enhancing the ability and coordinating the efforts of the United States to deter, detect, prevent, protect against, and respond to terrorist explosive attacks in the United States by:

• Serving as the lead agency of the Department for ensuring that programs designed to counter terrorist explosive attacks in the United States function together efficiently to meet the evolving threat from explosives and improvised explosive devices;
• Coordinating national and intergovernmental bombing prevention activities to ensure those activities work toward achieving common national goals; and
• Conducting analysis of the capabilities and requirements necessary for Federal, State, local, and tribal governments to deter, prevent, detect, protect against, and assist in any response to terrorist explosive attacks in the United States by maintaining a national analysis database on the capabilities of bomb squads, explosive detection canine teams, tactics teams, and public safety dive teams; and applying the analysis derived from the database in evaluating progress toward closing identified gaps relating to national strategic goals and standards and informing decisions relating to homeland security policy, assistance, training, research, development efforts, testing and evaluation, and related requirements.

In addition, the bill would promote secure information sharing of sensitive material and promoting security awareness by:

• Operating and maintaining a secure information sharing system that allows the sharing of critical information relating to terrorist explosive attack tactics, techniques, and procedures;
• Educating the public and private sectors about explosive precursor chemicals;
• Working with international partners, in coordination with the Office for International Affairs of the Department, to develop and share effective practices to deter, prevent, detect, protect, and respond to terrorist explosive attacks in the United States; and
• Executing national public awareness and vigilance campaigns relating to terrorist explosive threats, preventing explosive attacks, and activities and measures underway to safeguard the United States.

Additionally, the bill would establish and execute a public awareness campaign to inform the general public and private sector businesses on ways they can deter, detect, prevent, protect against, and respond to terrorist explosive attacks in the United States.

This program would involve:

• A broad spectrum of both mainstream and specialty print, radio, television outlets, and the Internet;
• Utilize small and disadvantaged businesses; and
• Ensure that the public awareness messages under the campaign reach and are understandable to underserved populations.

In 2010, the program would receive $10 million in funding, followed by $25 million in fiscal years 2011 through 2013