[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SECURITY AT OUR PORTS

  (Ms. HAHN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HAHN. Mr. Speaker, as a representative of our Nation's busiest 
port complex and the cofounder and cochair of the Ports Caucus, I 
understand the unique security challenges that ports pose to our 
economic and national security. Ports are a crucial piece of our 
economy, and a potential attack or disruption to trade operations could 
have a disastrous impact on the American economy.
  Last week, the Brookings Institution released a study highlighting 
troubling cybersecurity weaknesses at our Nation's ports, an all too 
often overlooked area of infrastructure vulnerability.
  We need to do better and finally take a comprehensive examination of 
the security of our Nation's ports facilities and develop a plan to 
address any gaps or vulnerabilities.
  This is why I urge my colleagues to support the GAPS Act, my 
legislation that directs the Department of Homeland Security to conduct 
a comprehensive classified study of potential gaps in port security and 
prepare a plan to address them. After all, think tanks aren't the only 
ones looking for security weaknesses at our ports.

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