[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 66 (Thursday, April 24, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E734-E735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2830, COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATION ACT 
                                OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 23, 2008

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of H. Res. 1126, the Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 2830, the 
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2007. I also strongly support the 
underlying legislation, which will provide our Nation's Coast Guard 
with the resources it needs in order to successfully execute all of its 
missions.
  I would like to thank my colleagues, Congressmen Oberstar and 
Cummings, for introducing this bill, as well as the Chairman of the 
Homeland Security Committee, Congressman Thompson, for his leadership 
on this important issue. Madam Speaker, I was pleased to work with 
Chairman Thompson and offer an amendment during our Homeland Security 
Committee markup to this important legislation, which I felt improved 
the bill. My amendment mandated the creation of a strategic plan to 
utilize assistance programs to assist ports and facilities that are 
found by the Secretary not to maintain effective anti-terrorism 
measures. I am also offering an amendment on the House floor today 
calling on the Secretary of Homeland Security to examine the challenges 
and delays faced by transportation workers seeking to obtain TWIC cards 
at enrollment sites and mandates the development of timelines and 
benchmarks for implementing the findings of this assessment.
  As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I believe protecting 
our Nation by air, land, and sea to be critical to our national 
security interests. This bill, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 
2007, sets forth various provisions that will be beneficial to our 
maritime interests, and consequently to our national security. Included 
in the provisions are the establishments of grants for international 
maritime organizations, the establishment of the Merchant Mariner 
Medical Advisory Committee, and codified various provisions relating to 
Coast Guard personnel matters.
  For some years now, I have been concerned about the diversion of 
Coast Guard resources from their historic missions of search and rescue 
and marine safety, to homeland security missions. Since the creation of 
the Department of Homeland Security, and the Coast Guard's inclusion in 
the Department, one of the greatest challenges has been ensuring that 
the funds that the Coast Guard have traditionally received in order to 
perform there duties remain intact so that they can fulfill the 
responsibilities that American citizens rely on them to perform, namely 
ensuring the safety of our nations seas, lakes, rivers, and ports.
  We have to ensure that the Coast Guard will get their full funding 
needed to carry out their responsibilities, and that is precisely what 
this legislation does. This act authorizes appropriations for FY2008 
for the Coast Guard. Furthermore, this act also authorizes the FY2008 
levels of Coast Guard active duty military personnel and average 
military training student loans, allowing for sufficient human 
resources for the Coast Guard to achieve its

[[Page E735]]

designated goals. This bill explicitly authorizes end-strength by 1,500 
members to 47,000 and increasing Coast Guard funding to $8.4 billion 
which has not been done since the 1970's.
  The act also includes provisions regarding shipping and navigation, 
vessel size limits, maritime drug law enforcement, fishing vessel 
safety, liability limits for natural gas deepwater ports, claims 
against the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, dry bulk cargo residue, 
merchant mariner matter, and security.
  Mr. Speaker, every year, 95 percent of the goods coming into the 
United States arrive at our nation's seaports. These goods are shipped 
from ports around the world, some from developed countries and others 
from developing countries. I am particularly concerned about ports in 
developing countries. Developing countries have limited resources which 
means their ability to maintain effective anti-terrorism measures is 
limited.
  We can not allow terrorists to exploit this limitation. Rather, we 
should work with developing countries and others to build up their 
anti-terrorism measures. This assistance will benefit all of us. The 
developing countries will gain the support they need, and we will close 
a potential gap in our own supply chain. Every gap we close is one less 
gap that can be exploited by terrorists. I am pleased that this bill 
requires the Department of Homeland Security to develop a strategic 
plan to utilize existing assistance programs to assist foreign ports 
and facilities that are found by the Secretary not to maintain 
effective anti-terrorism measures. This bill furthermore authorizes the 
Coast Guard to lend, lease, and donate equipment and provide technical 
training to non-compliant foreign ports or facilities. The multiple 
layers of security enhancement authorized in this legislation will 
minimize the ability of terrorists to target to maritime commerce and 
negatively impact the global supply chain.
  I am pleased that the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2007 includes 
specific provisions relating to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). 
Within this legislation, MSIs are defined as a historically Black 
college or university, a Hispanic serving institution, a Tribal College 
or University, a Predominantly Black institution, or a Native American-
serving institution. Section 901 of this important legislation states 
that the Commandant shall establish a management internship program for 
students at MSIs, enabling them to intern at Coast Guard headquarters 
or Coast Guard regional offices in an effort to support the development 
of civilian, career-midlevel, and senior managers for the service. This 
legislation furthermore instructs the Coast Guard to work with the 
National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, the 
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and the American 
Indian Higher Education Consortium to create this internship program 
and authorizes $2 million to be appropriated to this program.

  Mr. Speaker, I have long stressed the importance of including this 
nation's MSIs in the effort to secure our nation. Section 903 of this 
legislation states that the Commandant shall establish a Coast Guard 
Laboratory of Excellence-MSI Cooperative Technology Program at three 
minority serving institutions to focus on priority security areas for 
the Coast Guard, such as global maritime surveillance, resilience, and 
recovery. It also calls on the Commandant to encourage collaboration 
among the minority serving institutions selected to participate in the 
cooperative technology program and institutions of higher education 
with institutional research and academic program resources and 
experience. These and other measures included within this bill are 
absolutely imperative as the Office of Workforce Planning has recently 
revealed that only 5 percent of the officer corps is African American 
and only 12 percent of the officer corps is comprised of ethnic 
minorities, while in the last 3 years the numbers of minority 
ascensions have actually decreased.
  The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2007 also increases oversight 
and efficiency of the TWIC program, which was originally mandated six 
years ago, yet continues to flounder. To date only 230,000 out of an 
estimated 845,000 applicants have enrolled in the TWIC program, while 
the deadline for enrollment is September 25, 2008. While this provision 
of the Coast Guard Authorization is both timely and important, there is 
still more which must be done in order to ensure that the program is 
both effective and efficient, which is why I have offered an amendment.
  I would like to reiterate only few of the obstacles that workers have 
faced in my state of Texas as well in my district of Houston. For 
example, a marine worker enrolled at the Houston Port enrolled on 
December 13, 2007. To this date, he still does not yet have a TWIC 
card. He remained on hold for 4 hours and 10 minutes and was finally 
told by the operator that he would have to return to Houston to be 
fingerprinted again after APR. Incidentally, a representative of Higman 
Marine Services, Inc., asked the same question about their employee, 
and she was told that he should not return until June. This blatant 
inconsistency in service and information is simply unacceptable. 
Furthermore, another transportation worker went to the Beaumont center 
about 3 weeks ago to pick up his TWIC after being notified it was 
ready. He traveled from Hemphill, TX (117 miles), and was told that the 
card was accidentally shipped to Houston and he could drive there (85 
miles) to pick it up. He presently does not have his card. The list of 
incidences in which workers have to continually overcome structural 
impediments is too long for me to name. It is from my concern for these 
workers that I have introduced my amendment.

  My amendment calls for the Secretary of Homeland Security to compile 
an assessment of the enrollment sites for transportation security cards 
issued under section 70105 of title 46, United States Code within 30 
days of enactment. The assessment should, at minimum, examine: The 
feasibility of keeping those enrollment sites open 24 hours per day, 
and 7 days per week, in order to better handle the large number of 
applicants for such cards; the feasibility of keeping those enrollment 
sites open after September 25, 2008; and the quality of customer 
service, including the periods of time individuals are kept on hold on 
the telephone, whether appointments are kept, and processing times for 
applications.
  My amendment furthermore calls on the Secretary of Homeland Security 
to develop timelines and benchmarks for implementing the findings of 
the assessment as the Secretary deems necessary. By identifying the 
areas in which enrollment sites for homeland security cards are 
ineffective and inefficient and creating a timeline through which to 
implement necessary changes and benchmarks to ensure their progress and 
accountability, we will make this Nation a safer place accessible to 
labor and operations alike.
  Long before the horrific events of September 11, 2001, citizens of 
America relied upon the Coast Guard to ensure the safety of our 
waterways, and we depend on them still. Therefore, I urge my fellow 
members of Congress to also support the Coast Guard Authorization Act 
of 2007 and ensure this rich and necessary tradition remains a thriving 
and useful part of not only our national defense strategy but also to 
protect us and the environment from those threats by sea.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this rule and 
the underlying legislation.

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