Call Your Senators To Save The Bus Security Grants!
The Senate Homeland Security Committee has approved an amendment offered by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) that will eliminate the Intercity Bus Security Grant Program (IBSGP).
The IBSGP is a competitive grant program that awards money to qualified bus companies to improve the safety and security of their operations. Since 2003, around $94 million has been awarded to hundreds of operators to pay for things like training, vehicle security enhancements, passenger screening and security planning.
IBSGP has been universally viewed as a highly effective program that costs the federal government a relatively small amount of money (about $10 million annually.) In fact, the Transportation Security Administration recently released a report recommending needed security improvements for the bus industry, and that report concluded that continuing IBSGP would be an effective way of funding those improvements.
But now IBSGP is under attack. ABA is asking all of its members to call their senators today and ask them to save this important program.
Here are some talking points to use when you call:
• Annually motorcoach operators provide an average of 745 million passenger trips to the public which is comparable to the number of trips provided by the domestic airlines and more than 20 times the number of trips provided by Amtrak.
• The airline industry, Amtrak and transit enjoy the full support of the federal government in the form of billions of dollars in security assistance.
• Whether Americans travel by air, rail or bus they have the right to feel that their government is doing all it can to protect them from the threat of terrorism.
• Remind your senator what your company has done with the grant money and how that has helped to protect your passengers.
• Remind your senator that your company is vital to the local economy and to your passengers.
You can reach your senators office by calling (202) 224-3121. Please call ABA staff at (202) 218-7224 if you have any questions, or need assistance contacting your senator's office.