States bolstered security after Sept. 11

NEW ORLEANS, April 19 (UPI) -- A visitor to public areas in the state capitols of Arkansas, Iowa and Tennessee Friday must pass a "test" that visitors in those statehouses didn't face a year ago: each person must clear a metal detector before taking a step into the building.

Six months ago, the public health department in Connecticut did not have authority to stockpile potassium iodide in case an incident should occur at the state's Milestone 3 nuclear power plant. Today, preparations have begun for stockpiling the salt ingredient that can protect against cancer.

Meanwhile, New York state's list of capital crimes contains an offense not previously stipulated: murder committed in furtherance of a terrorist act.

These states are just a few that have taken legislative steps to bolster public safety and security since last Sept. 11. Key actions by many states along these lines appear in a report released Friday by the National Conference of State Legislatures at its meeting in New Orleans.

The report is the first official output from the NCSL's Task Force on Protecting Democracy, formed late last year.

Why is democracy, rather than homeland security, the group's focus?

"One of the reasons we were victims on Sept. 11 was because of our openness, our diversity, because we are such a free and open country -- the very antithesis of the rigid doctrinaire extremism represented by those terrorists," said NCSL President Stephen Saland, a state senator from New York.

Saland said the decision to make the task force's mission the protection of democracy seemed natural following the attacks in New York City and elsewhere.

More than 1,200 bills aiming to bolster such protection have been filed in state legislatures since the attacks. Some measures arose in special sessions called specifically to address terrorism concerns. Others were prompted by communications from the task force, part of whose responsibility is to notify all NCSL members of potentially important protective actions taken by any state.

Task force co-chairman Wesley Marsh, a state representative from Arizona, said he and other members of the group have met several times in recent months with the nation's homeland security chief, Tom Ridge.

All 50 states have formed offices of homeland security in the last six months.

Marsh said Ridge will use the committee's report to help formulate guidelines for spending $37 billion that has been requested from the federal government for new security measures nationwide.

"We will help allocate the money into first responder (programs) in our communities," said Marsh.

He said some likely targets for the money will include health care systems and anti-bioterrorism programs that will make trauma center care and decontamination services immediately available in the event of a direct assault on the public's personal health.

Other priorities will include protecting against cyberterrorism through laws that place stiff penalties on tampering with telecommunications and other public systems. Lawmakers have passed such bills recently in Louisiana, Michigan and Virginia.

Energy security is an area in which the task force has found the nation to be particularly vulnerable. Noting that computerized information systems control much of the movement of both electric power across transmission grids and oil and natural gas through pipelines, the group's report warns: "A National Security Agency mock attack on systems that control the power grid in the late 1990s found that a cyber attack could bring down the grid."

The report points to California's "Path 15," which carries power between northern and southern parts of the state, as a good example of a major power artery that, if damaged, would seriously impair power transmission throughout a large state.

Also mentioned in the report is the fact that much of the Northeast relies on natural gas transported through underground pipelines whose above-ground controls are vulnerable to attack.

In addition, the nation's oil refineries and pipelines are seen as being in potential danger. "Oil refineries in the United States are probably not well-prepared to defend against (terrorist) attack," the report concludes.

The task force so far has reviewed state legislation and needs in seven areas: crime and justice; environment, energy and transportation; fiscal and economic affairs; government operations and emergency management; health; information technology and Internet; and patriotism and schools.

Massachusetts state Sen. Richard Moore, also a task force co-chairman, said an important focus of the group is civic education.

The process of providing greater public security and safety often raises questions of how much freedom the public is willing to cede, Moore points out. "We have to look at what is the public's understanding of how democracy works and at issues of confidentiality -- how much should the public know?" he said.

Grappling with such issues requires making thorny decisions about balancing freedom with security. "We need to rebuild our civic education infrastructure in order to help people make these choices more intelligently," Moore said.

The committee intends to release its final report in July during the NCSL's annual meeting in Denver. Preliminary reports will go to Ridge within the

next six weeks, said Saland.

Thereafter, the group will work to help Ridge secure the funding needed to carry out the safety and security priorities of all the states.

Noting that 40 states are currently staring budget deficits in the face, Marsh said quick action by the federal government is vital.