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There Is No Better Asset to America's Safety and Security than the Ordinary Citizen |
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By GUS M. BILIRAKIS
July 26, 2007
Since 9/11, America has
adapted to new challenges placed before it. Local first responders and ordinary
citizens have stepped into a role that has transformed the way we approach
safety and security in this country.
Effective homeland security must begin at home, on the local level of
government and community. The post-9/11 period has countless examples of
citizens and local first responders who witnessed something out of the
ordinary, reported it to the authorities and because of their vigilance, helped
to foil a terrorist plot. Take the example of a vigilant store clerk in New Jersey earlier this
year, whose watchful eye helped to thwart a potential terror attack on a
military installation.
It is hard to always be on guard, and since Americans cherish their privacy, we
don't want to appear intrusive. However, when strange things happen that may be
of concern, there can be no better value than the caution of a local citizen.
The same goes for those who live, work and recreate along the more than 95,000
mile maritime border that makes up America's waterways. It is
estimated that there are nearly 70 million boaters alone in the United States
who spend their time on more than 290,000 square miles of water.
Citizens' assistance in local efforts to secure America's maritime domain is
critical, and must be supported on both local and federal levels. The U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard have established America's
Waterway Watch (AWW) program to unite local boating groups and Coast Guard
units around the country in a single, national effort to encourage reporting of
suspicious activity and increased public awareness of maritime homeland
security.
Like the neighborhood watch programs that have successfully brought safety and
security to thousands of communities throughout the United
States, AWW enables a similar effort to exist on America's
waterways. Congress needs to support this effort to promote awareness of
maritime homeland security. That is why I have introduced H. Res. 549, which
recognizes the importance of increasing maritime domain awareness and supports
the goals of AWW.
Many members of Florida's
Congressional delegation have already signed on as co-sponsors to this
resolution. It is my hope that Congress will put its full weight behind this
resolution as an expression of our commitment to the importance of securing America's
maritime domain.
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