[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE AMERICAN PEOPLE GET IT

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important, as we 
have participated in the rising thunder of the discussion of port 
ownership around America, to say that the American people get it. What 
they get is that we are in a new day after 9/11. We want to make sure 
that our constitutional rights are protected, but we also want to make 
sure the homeland is secure. That is the promise that this 
administration made to the American people. And, frankly, to know that 
our ports are subjected to the potential of being bought and sold on 
the open market is a frightening concept.
  It is well known that a tanker massed with weapons of mass 
destruction at any one of our ports could be probably more devastating 
than the horrific events of 9/11. Tomorrow, I will introduce 
legislation that will ask for a moratorium for the Nation's ports and 
the buying and selling to foreign entities, not entities in the Middle 
East, not entities in Europe, but all foreign entities. I will ask, as 
well, for a GAO study to determine what is the status of security for 
our ports. And finally, I will ask for a report on the security status 
of the 10 largest ports in America.
  Let's give a solution. We don't need contracts that sell away our 
security.

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