15 November 2002
Source:
http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=02111403.clt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml
US Department of State
International Information Programs
Washington File
_________________________________
14 November 2002
(Bill calls for anti-terrorist measures in U.S. and foreign ports) (620) By Andrzej Zwaniecki Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- The Senate has approved a comprehensive bill aimed at improving security at U.S. seaports and preventing terrorists from using the maritime transportation system to mount attacks on the United States. Passed November 14, the Maritime Transportation and Security Act contains measures intended to protect U.S. ports and high-risk seashore facilities against possible terrorist attacks and ensure cargo security at sea and in foreign ports while keeping the flow of trade uninterrupted. "With the legislation, we are, for the first time, creating a national system for securing our maritime borders," said Senator Ernest Hollings, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill. The House of Representatives was expected to pass the bill later November 14, clearing it for signature by President Bush. Final compromise legislation approved by House and Senate conferees would authorize the Transportation Department to conduct vulnerability assessments of 361 commercial U.S. ports in order to establish national and local maritime transportation security plans designed to prevent or deter terrorist attacks. It would provide grants to help finance port security improvements and would authorize $90 million over six years for research and development to improve the ability of the U.S. Customs Service to identify and inspect high-risk cargo. While 95 percent of U.S. international trade -- by tonnage -- goes through seaports, only 2 percent of the six million cargo containers that enter U.S. ports each year are inspected, according to news reports. The legislation would require the Transportation Department to assess security and anti-terrorist measures also at foreign ports from which high volumes of cargo heading for U.S. destinations originates and at those that pose a high terrorism risk. In case the department finds that a foreign port lacks effective anti-terrorism safeguards, it would have to suggest necessary improvements to the government of a country where the port is located and offer related security training to port authorities. Under the measure, ships coming from a foreign port that fails to meet security standards could be barred from entering U.S. ports. Additionally, the legislation calls for establishing a maritime intelligence system to help identify high-risk ships before they enter U.S. ports. The bill would make the Transportation Department responsible for creating a national transportation security card that would allow eligible port workers, mariners and truck drivers access to port and ship secure areas. And the department would have to develop a "smart" container cargo seal that would reveal tampering with cargo contents. The legislation would extend the Coast Guard's jurisdiction over cargo vessels from three to 12 miles offshore and provide statutory authority to existing Coast Guard programs, including anti-terrorist rapid-response teams and sea marshals. These teams can respond to terrorist threats against ships, ports and cargo in U.S. waters. Sea marshals or armed Coast Guard agents are authorized to board vessels entering U.S. ports to ensure that they are not being hijacked or used in other ways by terrorists. The bill would reauthorize spending by the U.S. Coast Guard of $6,000 million for the fiscal year that began October 1, $1,000 million more than in the previous year. The Senate passed its version of the port security measure in December 2001, and the House approved its version in June. But a compromise measure emerged only recently from conference committee where it was stalled for almost five months by Republicans opposed to a proposed new cargo user fee intended to pay $1,200 million of the port security provisions. Because the final bill dropped the cargo user fee, Hollings said, "we are going to have to address a way to pay for it." The bill would give the administration six months to devise a plan to fund the bill's port security mandates. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)