CNN Lou Dobbs Tonight - Transcript

CNN Lou Dobbs Tonight - Transcript

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DOBBS: Congressman Ed Markey has been fighting for years for better ports security funding. Congressman Markey today said the easiest way to smuggle a nuclear weapon into this country is through our ports, and says agents of a foreign government cannot be allowed to control our nation's port facilities.

Congressman Markey joins us here tonight. Good to have you with us.

REP. ED MARKEY (D-MA), HOMELAND SECURITY CMTE.: Thanks, Lou.

DOBBS: You have introduced legislation on port security. You have put forward legislation to inspect containers, cargo containers. How did we get here?

MARKEY: Well, we got here because the Republicans have been nickel and diming homeland security. So, last year I made the amendment that said that all cargo coming in, in ships overseas would have to be inspected, 100 percent of the cargo coming in.

Every Republican on the homeland security committee voted against my amendment, knowing that 95 percent of the cargo that comes to America isn't inspected at all. In fact, there's an easy pass which is given to those shippers to just put the cargo onto the ship.

They know it's hitting the American ports and it's not going to get -- but the Bush administration has said 'in industry we trust.' They don't want to spend the money, but the consequences for American security is grave.

DOBBS: You said Republicans. There were some exceptions on the committee, correct? Republican exceptions.

MARKEY: Not on this amendment. On my amendment that would require all of cargo being put on ships, every Republican voted no on that amendment.

DOBBS: What about Chris Shays, Jenny Brown?

MARKEY: I did not have a single Republican voting for me. Maybe they weren't there that day. Nobody voted for it on that day.

DOBBS: Maybe that is what did happen. We'll check that out. On November 17th, you reintroduced the amendment as a stand-alone piece of legislation. It's still alive or is it?

MARKEY: It's alive as a bill can be in a Republican Congress. Again, the Coast Guard is only getting 20 percent of the money that it asked for from the Bush Administration in order to protect our ports. They continue to say to the airline industry, you can put 95 percent of the cargo on passenger planes without screening it, 95 percent of the cargo on ships without screening it.

DOBBS: And have your grandmother take off her shoes and move forward. Let me ask you this, too. Duncan Hunter was just on, as you know, Congressman. He had to stop the Long Beach deal. The Clinton administration, I do want to point out, the Clinton administration strongly moved ahead with the same nonsense we're watching here.

I think most Americans are only interested in this administration, this leadership in Congress, because it is what is controlling our future. But the fact is, this process has been under way under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Anything in the name of so called free trade, never mind that free trade costs us trillions of dollars and millions of jobs.

MARKEY: I agreed with Duncan Hunter back in 1998 to block that Chinese Red Army deal. I voted with him on that.

But today, the issue really isn't going to be, Lou, whether or not we kill this Dubai deal in 45 days. The question is going to be on the day after that, when another company gets that responsibility, will the Republicans vote for the money to screen the 95 percent of the cargo which comes into our country?

Will they be willing to ensure there's no nuclear bomb on any of these ships? I bet they're not willing to spend the money. So, the Dubai deal will become the red herring which will obscure the fact that they refuse to spend the money to screen.

DOBBS: We'll see if that is experience talking, Congressman, or whether it's some cynicism, again, based on some experience. Congressman Ed Markey, thank you for being here.

MARKEY: Thank you. Appreciate it.

DOBBS: We hope there's no place for cynicism or skepticism. We'll see.

A reminder now to vote in our poll please. The question is, do you believe there should be a law prohibiting the sale of strategic U.S. infrastructure to foreign governments and companies owned by those foreign government. Cast your votes at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results in just a few moments.

Still ahead, violence on our nation's border with Mexico is intensifying. A report of stunning number on violence, a stunning new indictment of our nation's failure at our borders. Senator Jon Kyl will be my guest.

The very safety of our nation's military is at stake in the Dubai ports deal according to one leading port security expert. She's my guest here next. Stay with us.

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