Security and Accountability for Every Port Act

SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EVERY PORT ACT -- (House of Representatives - May 04, 2006)

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Mr. McCAUL of Texas. Madam Chairman, I would like to thank Chairman King, Ranking Member Thompson, and Representatives Lungren and Harman for their hard work in bringing this vital and bipartisan piece of legislation to the floor.

I rise today in support of this crucial bill that will build upon existing initiatives to improve port and cargo security both abroad and here at home.

In my home State of Texas, the Port of Houston operates as the United States' top port for foreign tonnage and our second largest for total tonnage, so I know how important this bill is for the protection of the American people.

Madam Chairman, the House of Representatives has repeatedly supported measures that provide for risk-based funding for homeland security. The SAFE Port Act does just that. It will create a risk-based strategy for securing America's ports and will make sure that we are using the best technology available to law enforcement today.

Equally important, this bill will provide $400 million per year in risk-based funding through a dedicated Port Security Grant Program to harden U.S. ports against terrorist attacks. This kind of funding strategy is smart, effective and responsible for our national security because it gets the required funding to the ports that are most at risk for terrorist attack.

Unfortunately, right now, it is economically impossible for Customs and Border Protection to inspect every container entering U.S. ports. However, the SAFE Port Act would require DHS to deploy nuclear and radiological detection systems at 22 U.S. seaports by the end of fiscal year 2007. This means that 98 percent of all incoming maritime containers would be screened without stopping our economy in its tracks.

In addition to securing ports in our homeland, we must also look overseas at what we can do to prevent dangerous or threatening cargo from ever reaching American soil. The SAFE Port Act will do this by improving our tracking system for shipping containers overseas and by requiring DHS to examine high-risk maritime cargo at foreign seaports. If we can catch them before they reach our shores, we can begin to ensure 100 percent security at America's ports.

The SAFE Port Act is a commonsense, responsible and effective piece of legislation that is needed for the security of our Nation, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill.

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