By Ron Thaniel
September 25, 2006

Seeking to strengthen security at America’s ports, the Senate passed the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006 (H.R. 4954) by a vote of 98-0 on September 14.

The measure requires the installation of radiation-screening equipment at major U.S. ports by the end of 2007. In addition, it requires inspections of suspicious high-risk cargo at foreign ports and sets up a pilot program to scan for nuclear or “dirty bomb” materials in all U.S.-bound containers at three to-be-determined foreign ports.

The House passed a similar measure in May. The Senate bill would authorize a total of $2 billion in fiscal years 2007-11, including a $400 million grant program available to individual ports, while the House bill would authorize $2.4 billion in fiscal years 2007-12, including the $400 million grant program.

Congress began debating how to make ports more secure in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The 9/11 Commission further raised awareness of port security, warning that the ports potentially provided terrorists with a better target for future attacks than commercial aviation.

The Conference of Mayors has long expressed serious concerns that U.S. ports are ill-prepared for a terrorist attack. In March, the Conference of Mayors sent a letter to the Congress and Administration calling for measures to strengthen port security.

Immediately after September 11, 2001, the Conference issued a National Action Plan on Safety and Security in America’s Cities. Again, in the Conference’s homeland security progress assessment released in October, the 2005 National Action Plan on Safety and Security in America’s Cities, the mayors continue to state that not enough is being done at our nation’s ports. Ports remain exposed to large scale acts of terrorism, including weapons of mass destruction or other dangerous materials.

More than 11 million cargo containers arrive at the nation’s ports each year. Federal officials open and inspect only about five percent of those containers.

Unlike the House bill, the Senate measure includes $1.1 billion for rail security improvements and another $3.4 billion in grants for mass transit security improvements. The Conference of Mayors supported the rail and transit security amendments.

Since 9/11, and again after the terror attacks on the public transportation systems in London, Madrid, and Moscow, the Conference led lobbying efforts to increase funding for bus and rail security.

At the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2005 Cities for a Strong America Transportation Summit, Transportation and Communications Committee Chair Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper urged summit participants, including mayors, representatives from the Bush Administration, U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) Physical Infrastructure Team, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and Amtrak, to support an urgent increase in funding for bus and rail security.

“We must commit to working with the Administration, Congress and state leaders nationwide to make sure that our citizens can get on a bus, step onto a train, go to work and just go about their daily lives knowing that everything that can be done is being done to keep them safe from terror attacks,” said Hickenlooper.

As U.S. MAYOR heads to press, the House and Senate have only a week to work out their differences before Congress recesses for the upcoming November elections.