Plugging the Holes in Homeland Security
| By Unknown user - May 4, 2006 8:02:06 PM ET |
| Also listed in: Featured Bloggers |
Today, we took an important, bipartisan step forward on the life-and-death issue of port security.
The measure passed in the House today would dedicate $400 million to heighten port security, establish a federal Director of Cargo Security Policy, and calls for a strategy to screen more cargo and improve port security.
I am glad that, more than four years after 9/11, Republican leaders in Congress have joined Democrats in taking action to protect our ports. However, we must do much more to keep America safe.
It was only after an unprecedented public outcry over the Dubai ports deal that Republicans in Washington finally took this issue seriously.
This bill moves us in the right direction. However, we still lack a plan to ensure screening of every container bound for the United States. A single shipping container could contain a nuclear weapon capable of killing hundreds of thousands of Americans.
House Republican leaders rejected Democratic efforts to require that all U.S.-bound cargo be screened for nuclear materials and closed with tamper-proof seals.
The larger issue in this debate concerns more than just port security. We need to do something about trade security.
The Bush administration is pursuing free trade negotiations with countries around the globe. The current system does not adequately consider the national security implications of these agreements.
I introduced legislation in February calling for national security reviews of all future U.S. trade deals.
The secretive CFIUS process now in place has allowed a number of questionable deals to move forward:
* The Bush administration awarded a no-bid contract to screen U.S.-bound cargo for nuclear material to a Chinese company with close ties to communist leaders in Beijing.
* Federal regulators are giving the green light to a foreign company with ties to Iran and Libya to purchase defense contractor Lucent Technologies.
* President Bush approved the purchase by Dubai International Capital of Doncasters, a company with nine plants in the United States that manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Our homeland will not be adequately secure until we have an open and thorough process to review foreign investments.
When our ports, railways, and waterways are opened to more and more containers sent from overseas, we must make every possible effort to ensure our families' safety.
The measure passed in the House today would dedicate $400 million to heighten port security, establish a federal Director of Cargo Security Policy, and calls for a strategy to screen more cargo and improve port security.
I am glad that, more than four years after 9/11, Republican leaders in Congress have joined Democrats in taking action to protect our ports. However, we must do much more to keep America safe.
It was only after an unprecedented public outcry over the Dubai ports deal that Republicans in Washington finally took this issue seriously.
This bill moves us in the right direction. However, we still lack a plan to ensure screening of every container bound for the United States. A single shipping container could contain a nuclear weapon capable of killing hundreds of thousands of Americans.
House Republican leaders rejected Democratic efforts to require that all U.S.-bound cargo be screened for nuclear materials and closed with tamper-proof seals.
The larger issue in this debate concerns more than just port security. We need to do something about trade security.
The Bush administration is pursuing free trade negotiations with countries around the globe. The current system does not adequately consider the national security implications of these agreements.
I introduced legislation in February calling for national security reviews of all future U.S. trade deals.
The secretive CFIUS process now in place has allowed a number of questionable deals to move forward:
* The Bush administration awarded a no-bid contract to screen U.S.-bound cargo for nuclear material to a Chinese company with close ties to communist leaders in Beijing.
* Federal regulators are giving the green light to a foreign company with ties to Iran and Libya to purchase defense contractor Lucent Technologies.
* President Bush approved the purchase by Dubai International Capital of Doncasters, a company with nine plants in the United States that manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Our homeland will not be adequately secure until we have an open and thorough process to review foreign investments.
When our ports, railways, and waterways are opened to more and more containers sent from overseas, we must make every possible effort to ensure our families' safety.
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