[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             PORT SECURITY

  (Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk 
about the importance of adequate security at our Nation's ports. On 
Monday, President Bush visited the Port of Philadelphia to praise our 
Coast Guard on their increased role at ports and to promote new 
security under Operation Liberty Shield. However, during this visit, 
the President failed to mention that the Coast Guard has reported 
receiving only a fraction of the resources they need to secure these 
ports, or that the President did not ask for any future port grant 
funding in either the supplemental spending bill or his fiscal 2004 
budget request, no funding to fill in the gaping holes in our port 
security needs.
  Just outside of my district, are two ports, the Port of Los Angeles 
and the Port of Long Beach. Last year, an estimated 4 million cargo 
containers passed through those ports, 35 percent of all U.S. 
international trade. Less than 4 percent of those containers were 
screened. Our ports of entry are some of the most vulnerable threat 
risks in our Nation and we need to provide the means and the resources 
necessary for adequate security.

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