Port security, cargo screening bills gain support

While news of a Dubai-owned company's plans to take over terminal operations at major U.S. seaports has captured the attention of Congress, industry experts and others say the real focus should be on gaps in maritime security, including how cargo is screened before it leaves foreign ports.

The Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection agency, each part of the Homeland Security Department, are woefully underfunded and understaffed to carry out their maritime security missions, they say.

At least some legislation dealing with broader maritime security has been gaining support while the Dubai issue has been hot, lawmakers, aides and analysts agree.

"My assessment is that the security measures that are currently in place do not provide an effective deterrent for a determined terrorist organization intent on exploiting or targeting the maritime transportation system to strike at the United States," Stephen Flynn, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former Coast Guard commander, told the House Armed Services Committee last week.

"The problem is less about who owns and operates U.S. container terminals than it is that we simply have not addressed far more serious supply chain, maritime and port security issues that would dramatically reduce the terrorist risk to our homeland," he added.

Of particular concern, Flynn said, are vulnerabilities in CBP's Container Security Initiative and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programs, which are the government's two primary efforts for cargo security. Through the container initiative, Customs inspectors receive information on all containers heading for the United States, and inspect those that are determined to be high-risk. C-TPAT is a voluntary program through which shipping companies give the government all information on the security of their supply chain.

GAO concluded in reports last spring, however, that CBP has limited assurance that the container inspections are effective, and does not have a rigorous enough validation process for C-TPAT participants.

Indeed, Flynn said CBP only has about 80 dedicated inspectors for the partnership program, meaning the agency has only been able to validate the security plans of about 10 percent of about 8,000 participants. Flynn also said the Coast Guard only has 20 inspectors to review security plans at foreign ports, 13 of whom have to cover all of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Among the bills that might benefit from the current attention to port security deficiencies is one by Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who said he expects the GOP leadership to act on the "2005 Transportation Security Improvement Act," which his committee passed unanimously last November. The bill has multiple titles dealing with aviation security, rail security and maritime security.

In the maritime domain, Stevens' bill would authorize tens of millions of dollars more for the container initiative and C-TPAT, and require Homeland Security officials to set new standards for screening and shipping cargo abroad. The bill also would allow Homeland Security to disperse port security grants solely based on risks and vulnerabilities.

The bill received a strong endorsement last week from Tay Yoshitani, senior policy adviser for the National Association of Waterfront Employers, who said his organization "fully supports" it.

Committee aides say members are considering breaking out the section that deals with maritime security and introducing it as a stand-alone bill.

Also gaining steam is the "Greenlane Maritime Cargo Security Act," which was introduced in November by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

The bill would authorize $835 million annually for cargo security efforts. It would also require the Homeland Security Department to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for supply-chain security, make improvements to the container initiative and C-TPAT and create an Office of Cargo Security Policy.

Flynn supports the bill, calling it "the most comprehensive legislative initiative to date" for cargo security.

A Collins aide said she plans to mark up the bill this spring. In the House, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., plans to introduce companion legislation with Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., an aide said.

Momentum also appears to be growing to defeat the administration's plan to eliminate specific port security grants.

For the second year in a row, Homeland Security has proposed creating a $600 million Targeted Infrastructure Protection program, under which states would apply for funding for areas such as rail, chemical plant and port security. Congress rejected the proposal last year. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said last week he intends to introduce a resolution to keep port security grant funding as a separate program in the fiscal 2007 budget.

New attention to port security has also caused some lawmakers to say they have not done enough to set priorities and provide adequate funding.

"This Congress will not put its money where its mouth is about port security," House Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., said at a hearing last week.