[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 2944]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    PORT SECURITY: REPUBLICANS ARE NOT INTERESTED IN SECURING PORTS

  (Mrs. JONES of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise simply to complain again as 
others have about port security in the United States of America. We 
cannot afford to outsource our homeland security, and that is exactly 
what the Bush administration wants to do with the United Arab Emirates.
  On Monday, March 20, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Cleveland, Ohio, at 
Idea Stream, 1375 Euclid Avenue, I will be hosting a town hall meeting 
on port security in my congressional district. Everyone is invited, and 
we have free parking.
  The UAE deal has highlighted to the American people how vulnerable 
our ports remain more than 4 years after 
9/11. They simply can't believe that only 6 percent of the cargo that 
comes into our ports is ever inspected before it is transported 
throughout our Nation. This is a serious gap in our homeland security, 
and it could have been prevented. For 4 years my Democratic colleagues 
and I have tried to increase funding for port security to shore up this 
serious security gap. And every single year the Republican majority has 
opposed our efforts.
  What are they waiting for?
  Are House Republicans waiting for biological or chemical agents to 
come through our ports to be used against Americans before they finally 
choose to act?
  We simply cannot afford to wait any longer. It's time for House 
Republicans to join Democrats in supporting the funding necessary to 
secure our ports.

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