House committee calls for more security funding at LA, Long Beach ports

During an Oct. 30 hearing, members of the House Committee on Homeland Security received testimony regarding port security from representatives of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.    The U.S. House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee during a rare field visit at the Port of Los Angeles this week called for more funding for port security, in contrast to the Trump Administration’s plans to cut such spending in the upcoming budget.
   During the bipartisan Oct. 30 hearing, the committee received testimony regarding port security from representatives of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Los Angeles and Long Beach seaports, as well as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
   The hearing location, the Port of Los Angeles headquarters in San Pedro, came at the behest of Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif. Barragan, whose district includes the port, said funds should be used to beef up security at both San Pedro Bay ports, rather than to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
   The meeting was conducted about two-and-a-half months after a bizarre incident that ended in a fatality at the Port of LA’s Pier 100, which is part of the China Shipping North America-run West Basin Container Terminal.
   In the Aug. 16 occurrence, a man made his way onto the Port of Los Angeles during a police pursuit, then climbed a 160-foot tall gantry crane, discarded all his clothes and kept police at bay for hours until he died after either falling or jumping from the crane.
   The incident led to the Port of LA announcing that it was implementing new security measures and reviewing its practices.
   Although most of the committee members expressed support for more port security funding, one, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, (R-CA), said that it should be private companies that benefit from the port that should pay for the additional measures, not the federal government.
   In March, the Trump Administration released a preliminary budget proposal for 2018 that would allot $16.2 billion for the U.S. Deptartment of Transportation’s discretionary budget, a $2.4 billion (13 percent) decrease from current funding levels.