WEINER:

NO EXCUSE FOR NEGLECTING SECURITY CONCERNS AT GROUND ZERO

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SAFETY TOP PRIORITY FOR FREEDOM TOWER

New York City -- Today's New York Times reports that security concerns have delayed redevelopment at ground zero.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn), who wrote, sponsored, and passed the first federal law to overhaul building collapse investigations in the wake of the World Trade Center collapse, and who is a member of the House Homeland Security Task Force, released the following statement:

“When it comes to public works in the City, public safety has to be our number one priority.

“We must keep our eye on the ball, and that ball is safety, not football.

“What’s troubling are suggestions that the Mayor and his Deputy’s single minded obsession with a new stadium for the Jets on the West Side have distracted them from the most basic security question at ground zero—the placement of the Freedom Tower.

“None ofus in City leadership should ever forget that safety and security are job one.”

After the attacks on 9/11, Weiner introduced the National Construction Safety Team Act, legislation designed to ensure that the mishandled evidence and in-fighting that hobbled FEMA’s World Trade Center investigation would never be repeated.

The Act put the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in charge of all major building collapse investigations, and created special investigative teams at NIST equipped with the subpoena power to direct investigations and preserve crucial evidence on the ground and at the scene.

President Bush signed the bill into law in October of 2002.