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ON THE ISSUES: Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke at his office on Third Avenue and 47th Street on Sunday on several hot topics, including nation's safety and job creation. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times)
NEW YORK—Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) arrived fashionably late to a press conference Sunday morning at his office in Midtown Manhattan, held up by bumper-to-bumper traffic on the flooded Long Island Expressway on his way from Long Island.
One of the orders of business in his customary Sunday presser was announcing proposed legislation to tackle the threat of al-Qaeda’s infiltration of the nation’s power plants.
“Do you know where the greatest threat comes from?” asked Schumer. “Terrorists who seek to infiltrate these plants by assuming jobs inside them and the recruitment of disgruntled employees already in the plants.”
When asked if any of New York’s power stations were under threat, the senator did not elaborate on any specific cases but reiterated that it is a course of action the terrorists are taking throughout America. He cited a Department of Homeland Security report released several weeks ago titled “Insider Threat to Utilities.”
Suspected al-Qaeda member Sharif Mobley was apprehended in Yemen in March 2010, after having worked at five nuclear power plants in the United States. Legislation requiring nuclear plants to run background checks on employees with access to sensitive areas was enacted after his arrest.
Other utilities remain unprotected, however, and Schumer said terrorists could wreak havoc if they got access to these stations.
Control of energy sources means control over economy and lives, noted the senator. Many medical devices depend on electricity; production depends on electricity; and businesses, trains, and many other things that keep the wheels of prosperity running all depend on electricity.
Schumer gave the example of an employee at a power plant in Arizona who shut down operating systems to cause a methane buildup. The employee had no terrorist affiliations, but this case provides a glimpse at what employees of power plants are capable of.
Schumer’s proposed legislation would give plants access to FBI data, mandating that the plants do background checks employees with access to sensitive areas.
“As we approach the anniversary of Sept. 11, let us remember how far we’ve come in combating terrorism, [but] let’s not be complacent,” concluded the senator.
Jobs For Struggling Economy
Commenting on the economy for the first time since the nation’s brush with default, Schumer declared that the United States must “refocus like a laser” on creating jobs.
The nation did not default on its debt, but the close call sent the market on a crash course that America is still reeling from.
Bipartisan cooperation is imperative, said Schumer, and acting now would be the only way to save the nation. He outlined possible solutions for reviving the economy.
An infrastructure package could stimulate construction, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for the builders and tradesmen, who would in turn pump their paychecks back into the economy.
“In the past, the way we’ve gotten out of recessions is by construction workers going back to work,” noted Schumer.
Tax breaks to create green jobs, payroll tax deductions, changing trade laws to give American manufacturers a greater advantage, and encouraging lending to small businesses were among the other suggestions put forth by Schumer, who said his conversations with President Barack Obama often center around the economy.
“We must, we must, we must focus on jobs, or we risk a double-dip recession,” declared the senator.
WTC Workers Reported Drinking on Job
The New York Post broke a story this weekend about construction workers at ground zero drinking alcohol on their lunch breaks. The exposé was based on two dozen workers the Post’s staff reportedly followed, over the course of several days, to a pub, where the workers drank multiple beers and shots of whiskey on their lunch breaks.
Schumer expressed his concern regarding the situation. “Construction work is a very highly skilled profession. And so when people are repeatedly doing serious drinking abuse on the job, it not only endangers their lives, but [also] their fellow workers, the construction work, [and] the quality that they do on the job. And so it [drinking on the job] should be stopped immediately. The reports are very, very troubling,” said the senator.