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Guest Commentary May 27, 2002
Our Ports and Waterways Are Vulnerable
The Honorable Max Cleland
Our nation's coastline is over 95,000 miles -- by far our most prolific border. Yet, despite the tremendous national mobilization to increase security since September 11, protecting our seaports has been a somewhat elusive goal. Although the Senate acted last December to tighten security at our nation's ports, the legislation is still stalled in the House of Representatives. ...
Our ports and waterways are vulnerable. The Interagency Commission on Crime and Security in U.S. Seaports reports, "the state of security in U.S. seaports generally ranges from poor to fair, and in a few cases, good." This same report surveyed 12 large ports and found that only three controlled port access from the land, and that nine of these ports did not control access via the water. To realize the ramifications, we only need to remember the USS Cole.
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While Congress did appropriate over $93 million in funds for port security upgrades last year, we can and must do more. We have an opportunity, and a duty, to act to help prevent a terrorist attack on our ports before it happens. In December, the Senate unanimously passed S. 1214, the Port and Maritime Security Act of 2001. I am a co-sponsor of this important legislation because I understand the crippling affect a terrorist attack at our ports would have on the nation's commerce as well as our people. Ninety-five percent of foreign trade travels on water. After September 11, the nation's air travel system was halted for days, crippling commercial airlines, the postal service, and the transportation of goods and people worldwide. Millions of dollars were lost in unrealized revenue as a result of only four days, and the airports had a security system in place; it only needed adjusting in order to reopen our skies.
However, what security system is in place at our ports? If something happened at my home state's port of Savannah or Brunswick, how would this nation respond? I believe Americans would rightly expect seaborne shipments to stop. This means that the employment of over one million people would be in jeopardy; over $74 billion in annual gross domestic product would halt; personal income contributions of over $52 billion would disappear, and local and federal revenue exceeding $20 billion would dry up. The ripple effects throughout our nation's economy and the world's -- because sea shipment is the ultimate example of globalization -- would be devastating! Unlike the airports, restoring normal sea shipments would take longer than four days because there is no system in place to upgrade but rather a patchwork of security initiatives that may not allow for any quick or uniform upgrades. In view of all of these disturbing facts, I urge my House colleagues to take up and pass S. 1214, which contains important provisions to make our seaports more secure. ...
In a Washington Post column from Sunday, March 3, about the potential development of weapons of mass destruction by Al Quaeda, the author writes, "In 'tabletop exercises' conducted as high as Cabinet level, President Bush's national security team has highlighted difficult choices the chief executive would face if the new sensors picked up a radiation signature on a boat steaming up the Potomac River..."
Congress must send the President a strong port security bill before it is too late. I urge the House to promptly pass S. 1214.
Max Cleland, a Democrat, is a U.S. Senator from Georgia. The above commentary has been adapted from a speech Sen. Cleland delivered on the floor of the Senate, April 24, 2002. To contact him, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
