[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 114 (Thursday, September 14, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9577-S9578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, for this month's session of 4 weeks on the
floor of the Senate prior to our recess for the elections, we have
focused and will continue to focus on the safety and security of the
American people.
There are a lot of issues that need to be dealt with that we are
dealing with in committees and in conference, but the focus on the
floor very much is the safety and security of families listening right
now, and to our colleagues and their families. We know, having seen
what had come close to happening with the events in Great Britain in
terms of the terrorist attacks and the plot there that was foiled, we
are at risk in this country. Therefore, it is our obligation to address
these issues and to do it in a way where we know we are equipped to
both obtain information that can undercut these plots and foil the
terrorists in whatever activity they are dreaming up.
In addition, we have a challenge that is being addressed in committee
today, was addressed in committee in the House yesterday, in terms of
the terrorist tribunals and military commissions. It needs to be
understood by my colleagues and the American people that the detainees
we have today--the enemy combatants, people who have wished us harm,
people who planned the 9/11 attack--until we act in Congress, in this
Senate, they simply cannot be tried. They cannot be brought to justice.
That is where we are today. That is why there is so much appropriate
focus on making sure our Government, our military personnel, our
intelligence officers have the tools they need to keep us safe.
So those two issues, the surveillance issue and the military
commissions and tribunals, are issues we are addressing, again, in
committee. The President has placed a bill before this body. I
introduced it about a week and a half ago. That language is available,
and I encourage my colleagues to study that.
Mr. President, that brings me to the issues of security that I
mentioned in terms of surveillance, the detainees
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who are at Guantanamo Bay. Senator McConnell and Senator Specter and I
actually visited that naval base last week and learned a lot.
We have border security we are addressing in the Department of
Defense appropriations bill that we passed a week and a half ago that
is in conference and in our Homeland Security appropriations bill, both
of which aggressively address border security. So we have border
security. We have port security. We have the military commissions that
are being addressed for those individuals at Guantanamo Bay. We have
support for our troops in terms of maintaining our security through the
Department of Defense appropriations bill that is currently in
conference. And then we have the whole issue of surveillance.
Today we are going to finish on port security. We all know--and we
are reminded by the events surrounding our reminiscences of 9/11 with
that fifth anniversary--we are fighting a war against radical
ideologues. These are militant extremists, and they have a single-
minded goal of destroying our Nation. Increasingly, people are
realizing that, but it is taking these reminiscences and the
remembering of the great tragedy of 9/11, coupled with the reality of
what very well could have happened to hundreds and, indeed, thousands
of Americans if that plot had not been uncovered by the British.
We know the terrorists are not going to stop. And it is not just a
war in one part of the world, it is a war against an ideology. They are
not going to stop at anything. The enemy is creative. I mentioned the
attacks that could have emerged out of the plot which was uncovered by
the British. Who would have ever deemed imaginable a day when business
travelers could not be carrying contact lens solution in their carry-
on. It is because of an attempt with a ``Gatorade'' bomb.
The terrorists are always thinking. They are always thinking of how
they can stay one step ahead of even what our imagination is. They are
searching for our weak points. They are seeking ways to exploit our
weak points. That is why we have to remain vigilant, and that is why we
have to address these issues on the floor. The substance of the bill
that is on the floor does just that, the port security bill. That is
vigilance.
Nowhere is it clearer to me that we have to be vigilant than at
America's 300 maritime ports of entry. We talk about border security.
Well, part of border security is port security. It is a border we have
to close and appropriately monitor to prevent the terrorists from doing
us harm.
These ports are economic centers. As economic centers, our more than
300 sea and river ports are targets in and of themselves. For people
who want to hurt us, want to hurt our economy, they can become a
target. These ports become even more attractive when they are close to
urban centers. These ports facilitate the rapid dissemination of cargo
from around the globe to each of our cities and towns. Thus, we know
the terrorists, when they want to hurt us, would potentially address
these ports.
We have done a lot to secure our ports, but the fact remains, they
are too porous. That brings us back to the importance of this bill. The
bill before us plugs the holes that exist. It toughens security
standards for all cargo. And it strengthens and improves programs
designed to screen cargo at foreign ports and secures the international
supply chain from the very start to the very end.
Technologies have advanced. We have developed more accurate detection
tools. But we are not using those tools throughout our system. We are
not using them universally. Terrorists have access to stealthier
weapons, and that is a huge vulnerability just asking to be exploited
if we do not keep up, if we do not keep pace. That is why we must pass
this bill tonight.
The bill establishes a risk-based grant program to help assist ports
with training personnel and implementing new security standards. The
men and women who operate our ports are our first line of defense. We
have entrusted these stewards of security with a serious, with a grave
responsibility.
Accordingly, the bill ensures that the Department of Homeland
Security will move forward with background checks for all port workers
so we know who is on the ground at these critical facilities. It sets
up procedures for resuming port operations and trade safely and quickly
after a terrorist attack to help minimize any effect or any shock to
our economy. It establishes the appropriate protocols to ensure that if
a terrorist does strike, our ports are not closed longer than
necessary.
And importantly, we also need protocols in place so we do not reopen
ports too early. An incident at a port could be a red herring, a
distraction to disguise other, more damaging terrorist activities.
These are just a few of the highlights of the Port Security
Improvement Act. At its core, it is a multipronged approach to plugging
the holes that exist in port security. It institutionalizes multiple
and redundant security layers. From the factory of origin to cargo
container, from cargo container to port warehouse, from port warehouse
to cargo ship, from cargo ship to the port of calling, and from the
port of calling to the final destination, at each step this bill
toughens our standards. We are making it harder for a terrorist's dirty
bomb to hide anonymously in a cargo container. We are making it harder
for terrorists to tamper with cargo containers. We are making it harder
for terrorists to use our ports as target practice. And we are making
it harder for terrorists to use our ports to stealthily gain access to
the rest of our homeland.
The terrorists we face have a radical agenda. They are ever-vigilant
in monitoring and assessing our weaknesses and always looking for new
ways to harm us. We must be ever-vigilant in identifying our weaknesses
and minimizing and eradicating them. That is what this Port Security
Improvement Act does. It is my hope my colleagues will join me in
supporting it and in passing this important piece of legislation this
afternoon.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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