Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jul 2001
Source: The Post and Courier (SC)
Copyright: 2001 Evening Post Publishing Co.
Contact:   http://www.charleston.net/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/567
Author: Steve Piacente

US PORTS' SECURITY TARGETED

WASHINGTON - Sen. Fritz Hollings, concerned that smugglers are 
enjoying a 98 percent success rate at the nation's seaports, 
announced legislation Tuesday that he said is urgently needed to beef 
up port safety and security. "If I were in the drug business down in 
Colombia, I would load up 10 of those containers that come into the 
ports of America, knowing that only one ... would be inspected," 
Hollings said. "Nine would go through free, and I'd have around 
450,000 tons of cocaine on the market." A bill introduced by 
Hollings, D-S.C., and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., would set up a 
national task force to coordinate security programs, require the 
Coast Guard to develop standards and conduct assessments and give $68 
million to the Customs Service for screening equipment to combat drug 
trafficking.

It also would give $80 million to the Transportation Department to 
improve port infrastructure. Hollings said the measure would provide 
the security needed to help seaports deal with drug smuggling, 
illegal aliens, trade fraud, terrorism and "potential threats to our 
ability to mobilize U.S. military forces."

"I think that the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs agency are doing an 
outstanding job, but they are outgunned," he said. Hollings said the 
government currently does not provide security guidelines - or 
security funding - for the nation's 300 ports. He and Graham 
introduced a similar measure last year, but it never got past the 
Senate Commerce Committee. Hollings now chairs the panel and is 
expected to make sure the bill reaches the Senate floor. The proposal 
received a qualified endorsement in Charleston, where local officials 
agreed that port security needs more attention, but also worried 
about cookie-cutter guidelines from Washington. "Government action 
increases awareness and helps national security, (but) every port is 
different," said John Hassell, president of the Maritime Association 
of the Port of Charleston. Byron Miller, spokesman for the State 
Ports Authority, agreed. "There are vast differences between ports.

I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all way of addressing port 
security." During a committee hearing, officials representing the 
Coast Guard, Customs Service, Maritime Administration and the Bush 
administration agreed that seaport crime and security are major 
problems. "The sobering reality is, because we live in a country that 
prides itself on the openness of democracy, we are always at risk of 
a terrorist attack," said Adm. James Loy, commandant of the Coast 
Guard. Rear Adm. James Underwood, national security advisor to 
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, said current controls are not 
enough to stop someone "intent on causing severe harm (to the United 
States) by way of our seaports."

  "The risk of a weapon of mass destruction being deployed against the 
U.S. by such low-tech means as a shipping container delivered to a 
seaport presents a difficult challenge, but one the U.S. cannot 
afford to ignore," he said. One concern about the Hollings measure is 
that heightened security could slow port operations. "A disruption of 
the flow of cargo through our ports could have a significant negative 
impact on our economy and our military readiness," said Bruce 
Carlton, acting deputy maritime administrator. Hollings' and Graham's 
"Port and Maritime Security Act of 2001" grew out of a report issued 
last October by the Interagency Commission on Crime and Security in 
U.S. Seaports. The commission, appointed by President Clinton at 
Graham's request, said security weaknesses are jeopardizing efforts 
to combat drug smugglers, cargo theft, the exportation of stolen 
vehicles and trade fraud.
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MAP posted-by: Kirk