May 4, 2006

Mr. Speaker,

H.R. 4954, the SAFE Port Act, falls far short of what’s needed. Because the Republican Majority operates largely as a subsidiary of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they refuse to take the only step that will ensure the safety of our ports: 100 percent scanning of containers. Instead, this bill mandates more reports that will tell us what hundreds of experts already have: you can’t ensure safety if you don’t verify the contents of every container. The studies, further reorganization of the Department of Homeland Security, and micromanaging of port operations in this legislation are a paltry substitute for real security.

Apparently the Majority feared that common sense would prevail, as they won’t even allow a vote on a Democratic amendment to scan 100 percent of containers within five years, following the model set by Hong Kong’s successful Integrated Container Inspection System, which has operated since 2005 without significantly increasing costs or causing delays. The shipping industry itself admits that the maximum cost of 100 percent scanning would be $125 per container. It could be as low as $6.50 per container. Either way, it’s a small price to pay for security when compared to the $4,000 cost of shipping a container from Asia.

I will vote in favor of this bill because it is an improvement over the current system and sends more federal money to ports to improve their security. However, unlike my Republican colleagues, I will not claim “mission accomplished” on port security until we know what’s in every container entering this country.