WASHINGTON, D.C. — A security resolution under consideration in the House of Representatives was amended yesterday with language that targets school transportation.

The resolution urges the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to enhance protections against terrorist attacks and other security threats to the nation’s rail and transit systems, in accordance with the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.

According to Derek Graham, president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, Congressman Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) added the school transportation-specific passages to the text.

The resolution, currently under review in the House’s Homeland Security Committee, now states: “Whereas each weekday, more than 25 million children depend on our nation's school transportation system, in addition to mass transit systems, to get to and from school and school activities, the security of these systems must be enhanced to address the threat of terrorism.”

The resolution also states that TSA should “give special attention to school transportation systems by working with school administrators, state and local law enforcement, and other representatives in the school transportation industry to keep children safe from terrorist attack.”