Homeland Insecurity

Tomorrow at City Hall there will be a press conference in support of the so-called Peter King amendment. The King bill, which passed the House overwhelmingly, would immunize whistle blowers who report suspicious activities to the proper homeland security authorities. The press conference will highlight a resolution that is being introduced by Councilman Monseratte and six of his colleagues. The reso calls on the US Senate to follow the House's lead and create the immunity from lawsuits needed to insure that our citizens won't be intimidated in reporting untoward behavior.

What lends tomorrow's event greater poignancy is the breaking news of the foiling of the plot by six Islamic radicals to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey. The key to the successful intervention was the alert behavior of a clerk at a local Fotomat who suspected that these folks may have been up to no good. He blew the whistle!-and now our servicemen and women are no longer threatened.

In order for New Yorkers and all Americans to remain safe we need for all of our citizens to be alert and vigilant. If they are afraid that they'll be forced to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees they just might decide to remain silent-and allow thousands of people to die as a result. The only thing perplexing in all of this is why some of our New York electeds don't get it.