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In its last major action before beginning its midterm election recess, Congress early Saturday morning approved a $3.4 billion maritime security bill that some lawmakers say will eventually lead to all cargo being scanned at foreign ports before being put on ships bound for the United States.

The House approved the bill, 409-2, while the Senate passed it on a voice vote.

"This legislation takes immediate action to heighten the security of our nation's seaports, which could be exploited by terrorists for delivering weapons of mass destruction to the United States," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., whose Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations led a three-year investigation into maritime security vulnerabilities. "Through this bill, we will be better prepared to address national security concerns that could arise in port cities."

Because the bill was one of the last pieces of legislation to be approved by lawmakers before they return home for the elections, House and Senate leaders tried to add several provisions unrelated to port security. In the end, the only extraneous provision added is one that would crack down on the $12 billion online gambling industry.

The bill authorizes $3.4 billion over five years for maritime security programs. It requires the Homeland Security Department to issue regulations on container security standards, and to create a plan for resuming trade in the event of an attack.

The bill authorizes a $400 million port security grant program, although the final version of the fiscal 2007 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which the House and Senate both approved late Friday night, only provides $210 million for port security grants.

Notably, the bill also requires the Homeland Security Department to establish a test program at three foreign ports to evaluate an integrated technology system to scan all U.S.-bound cargo. The department would be required to implement systems for scanning U.S. bound cargo at all foreign ports "as soon as possible."

The bill also requires the nation's 22 largest ports handling 98 percent of all cargo entering the country to install radiation monitors by the end of 2008.

Democrats were upset, however, that they were not allowed to propose amendments to the bill that would have provided billion in dollars for rail, transit, freight and passenger security, and lifted the cap on how many screeners the Transportation Security Administration can employ.

"This bill lacks important rail and transit protections passed by the Senate, but it does retain the right balance between trade and security," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. "It ensures that the trade so essential to the U.S. economy will still thrive under stronger security measures."

COMMENTS

• That's great! But what is Congress doing about the threat we face from crewmembers and stowaways who can freely walk off a vessel with anything, including a small nuke or other weapon of mass destruction, or narcotics (yep, they're still smuggling dope too!), and not be stopped by any federal authorities? Cargo is a serious threat, but not the only one. Since the ridiculous merger of Customs and INS into CBP and ICE, there is nobody in charge of security at the piers (remember, the Coast Guard is on the water). Let Customs officers go back to what they did best -- namely, searching cargo and ships, as well as crewmembers, longshoremen and all those at the seaports. Immigration should again be a separate service, because you can't have the same personnel perform two such highly specialized and difficult jobs, without something getting lost in the mix! GovExec.com reader Posted October 2, 2006 5:08 PM