You Can't Trust the Republicans to Keep Our Ports Safe
Protecting America from a terrorist attack should be the primary responsibility of our Federal Government. This Republican Congress, however, is beholden to special interests, not to the welfare of the American people. Here is a painful example of how Republicans voted to compromise the security of our country.
On May 5, the House passed the SAFE Port Act, a bill to enhance certain facets of port security. The bill is fairly non-controversial in what it does: setting up grant programs for port security, and instituting a system for taking second looks at so-called high-risk shipping containers. It's what the bill does not do, however, that worries Democrats: it does not call for 100-percent scanning of containers.
The technology for scanning containers exists and is already in use at two terminals in Hong Kong, one of the busiest ports on the world. An amendment offered by Congressmen Nadler(d-NY) and Ed Markey(S-Mass) would require scanning of all containers for radiation and density at the port of origin. After scanning, a seal would be applied which could be read by satellite technology. Any ship bearing a container which had been tampered with could be identified and stopped at sea - never reaching an American port. The cost of scanning is about $6.25 per container. When you consider the cost of shipping a container is generally about $4,000, $6.25 is minor. The bill would allow major ports three years to comply with the regulations and would allow five years for smaller ports to comply.
Congressional Democrats have made it a cornerstone of their Real Security Agenda. One hundred percent of House Democrats were joined by six Republicans in voting for the amendment; 222 Republicans voted "no," yielding to pressure from the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which includes groups such as Wal-Mart and other mega importers, which lobbied fiercely against the amendment. They won - the American people lost.
7 May 2006, posted to website
11 June 2006, Op-Ed printed in Green Valley New