[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S1419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Kyl, 
        and Mr. Allen):
  S. 378. A bill to make it a criminal act to willfully use a weapon 
with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person 
while on board a passenger vessel, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Reducing 
Crime and Terrorism at America's Seaports Act, along with the Chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee Senator Specter, and the Chairman and 
Ranking Member of the Terrorism Subcommittee, Senators Kyl and 
Feinstein. My colleagues and I have worked on this legislation for the 
past four years and I am hopeful this package of common-sense criminal 
law improvements will be approved by the Senate early this Session.
  The bipartisan legislation we introduce today should be familiar to 
my colleagues. It was introduced as S. 2653 in the 108th Congress, 
where I worked closely with the then-Chairman of the Committee Senator 
Hatch and Senator Leahy to ensure they were comfortable with the bill's 
provisions. The language has been reviewed by the United States Coast 
Guard, the American Association of Port Authorities, the American 
Institute of Marine Underwriters, the Inland Marine Underwriters 
Association, the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay, the 
Transportation Security Administration, and the AFL-CIO. Senator Kyl 
included this language in his Tools to Fight Terrorism Act of 2004 and 
it was the subject of a hearing in the Judiciary Subcommittee on 
Terrorism on September 13, 2004. This Congress, identical language was 
introduced by Senator Gregg at Title IV of S. 3, the majority's 
Protecting America in the War on Terror Act of 2005.
  Our bill will double the maximum term of imprisonment for anyone who 
fraudulently gains access to a seaport or waterfront. The Interagency 
Commission on Crime and Security at U.S. Seaports concluded that 
``control of access to the seaport or sensitive areas within the 
seaports'' poses one of the greatest potential threats to port 
security. Such unauthorized access continues and exposes the nation's 
seaports, and the communities that surround them, to acts of terrorism, 
sabotage or theft. Our bill will help deter those who seek unauthorized 
access to our ports by imposing stiffer penalties.
  Our bill would also increase penalties for noncompliance with certain 
manifest reporting and record-keeping requirements, including 
information regarding the content of cargo containers and the country 
from which the shipments originated. An estimated 95 percent of the 
cargo shipped to the U.S. from foreign countries, other than Canada and 
Mexico, arrives through our seaports. Accordingly, the Interagency 
Commission found that this enormous flow of goods through U.S. ports 
provides a tempting target for terrorists and others to smuggle illicit 
cargo into the country, while also making ``our ports potential targets 
for terrorist attacks.'' In addition, the smuggling of non-dangerous, 
but illicit, cargo may be used to finance terrorism. Despite the 
gravity of the threat, we continue to operate in an environment in 
which terrorists and criminals can evade detection by underreporting 
and misreporting the content of cargo. Increased penalties can help 
here.
  The legislation we introduce today would also make it a crime for a 
vessel operator to fail to slow or stop a ship once ordered to do so by 
a Federal law enforcement officer, for any person on board a vessel to 
impede boarding or other law enforcement action authorized by Federal 
law, or for any person on board a vessel to provide false information 
to a Federal law enforcement officer. The Coast Guard is the main 
Federal agency responsible for law enforcement at sea. Yet, its ability 
to force a vessel to stop or be boarded is limited. While the Coast 
Guard has the authority to use whatever force is reasonably necessary, 
a vessel operator's refusal to stop is not currently a crime. This bill 
would create that offense.
  In addition, the Coast Guard maintains over 50,000 navigational aids 
on more than 25,000 miles of waterways. These aids, which are relied 
upon by all commercial, military and recreational mariners, are 
critical for safe navigation by commercial and military vessels. They 
could be inviting targets for terrorists. Our legislation would make it 
a crime to endanger the safe navigation of a ship by damaging any 
maritime navigational aid maintained by the Coast Guard, place in the 
waters anything which is likely to damage a vessel or its cargo, 
interfere with a vessel's safe navigation, or interfere with maritime 
commerce, or dump a hazardous substance into U.S. waters with the 
intent to endanger human life or welfare.
  Each year, thousands of ships enter and leave the U.S. through 
seaports, smugglers and terrorists exploit this massive flow of 
maritime traffic to transport dangerous materials and dangerous people 
into this country. This legislation would make it a crime to use a 
vessel to smuggle into the United States either a terrorist or any 
explosive or other dangerous material for use in committing a terrorist 
act. The bill would also make it a crime to damage or destroy any part 
of a ship, a maritime facility, or anything used to load or unload 
cargo and passengers, commit a violent assault on anyone at a maritime 
facility, or knowingly communicate a hoax in a way which endangers the 
safety of a vessel. In addition, the Interagency Commission concluded 
that existing laws are not stiff enough to stop certain crimes, 
including cargo theft, at seaports. Our legislation would increase the 
maximum term of imprisonment for low-level thefts of interstate or 
foreign shipments from 1 year to 3 years and expand the statute to 
outlaw theft of goods from trailers, cargo containers, warehouses, and 
similar venues.
  These are improvements we should make to our criminal code. I am 
under no illusion, however, that enactment of our bill will guarantee 
the security of our seaports. We need to dramatically increase the 
financial assistance we are giving our ports so that they can harden 
their own facilities against potential attackers. I was disappointed to 
read in the Administration's budget that the President wants to 
eliminate the Department of Homeland Security's dedicated port security 
grant program. His budget instead will force our ports to compete 
against all other transit systems for scarce federal funds. We've spent 
only about $750 million to secure seaports since September 11th--the 
Coast Guard reports that is not nearly enough to meet the requirements 
of the Maritime Transportation Security Act. We also need to increase 
the number of inspections of ships and shipping containers that are 
coming into our ports. But the amendments to Federal criminal law that 
we propose here will provide an important deterrent effect and they 
will give Federal prosecutors new tools to go after terrorists who 
would target our seaports. I urge my colleagues to support our bill, 
and I look forward to its prompt consideration.
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