[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 56 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EVERY PORT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 4, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4954) to 
     improve maritime and cargo security through enhanced layered 
     defenses, and for other purposes:

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 4954, the SAFE Port 
Act, and I want to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for their work 
on this bill, as well as my colleagues from California Mr. Lungren, Ms. 
Harman, and Ms. Loretta Sanchez.
  As a member of the Port Security Caucus and as an original co-sponsor 
of this legislation I have been consistently fighting for a massive 
increase in funding and focus to secure our Nation's ports.
  The fact of the matter is that over the last 4 years we have done far 
too little to secure our Nation's ports.
  Since 2002 we have barely spent $700 million on port security grants 
throughout the country even though our ports have already identified 
and applied for over $3.8 billion worth of security improvements and 
even though the Coast Guard estimates that at least $5.4 billion is 
needed through 2010.
  Instead of spending $320 billion to mislead us into a war in Iraq, 
the administration could have hired nearly 5 million inspectors to 
ensure that all cargo that enters our country is inspected.
  This year this administration has even proposed to roll all critical 
infrastructure security grants into one pool, forcing ports, rail and 
other critical infrastructure to compete for scarce security dollars. 
That just doesn't make any sense.
  The SAFE Port Act rejects the administration's wrongheaded proposal 
and increases the authorization for port security funding to $400 
million per year.
  Although this bill does make a number of very good steps in the right 
direction to secure our ports, I am disappointed that it does not go 
far enough to screen foreign cargo before it enters U.S. ports.
  If we had adopted the Markey-Nadler amendment requiring 100 percent 
container scanning prior to shipment from foreign ports, we could have 
ensured that any potential threat would be identified and dealt with 
before it entered the United States.
  If even one incident occurs that compromises a single container of a 
known shipper, our current screening system will fall apart. Mr. 
Chairman, I believe that 100 percent screening is our only option 
because in this day and age we cannot afford the risk of even one 
incident.
  But we haven't even been given the option to vote on the Markey-
Nadler amendment.
  I'm also disappointed that the bill does not contain enough funding 
for the Coast Guard's deepwater program, or the radiation portal 
monitoring program that was first successfully launched at the Port of 
Oakland in my district last year.
  We can and we must increase funding for both these programs and 
provide a comprehensive and integrated approach to port security that 
includes 100 percent screening. Until we do so, our job remains 
unfinished.

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