Schumer calls for more box inspections, $500 million for security R&D

Schumer calls for more box inspections, $500 million for security R&D The future of a port security bill hammered out by several Senate committees last week became cloudier Tuesday with several amendments being offered.
   Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., proposed two major amendments to the Port Security Improvement Act being considered by the Senate — one that would require a new “three-layered screening system for all containers entering the United States” and the second creating a $500 million research and development program for new nuclear screening technology.
   The debate over the port security bill comes as ports are struggling to fund security requirements already mandated.
   Bernard S. Groseclose Jr., board chairman of the American Association of Port Authority, said one of the biggest challenge facing ports around the country is “how do we get recognition and funding now that mandates have been made” for improved port security.
   In an interview at the annual meeting of the AAPA in New Orleans, Groseclose, president and chief executive officer of the South Carolina State Ports Authority, noted that in the current round of port security grants, projects costing “well over $500 million” are competing for $168 million in funds from the Department of Homeland Security, so that only about 30 percent will be funded. He notes that is an increase from past years when only about one-fifth of proposals were funded.
   The AAPA is calling for port security grants to be funded at $400 million annually.
   “Port security has been the neglected step-child of homeland security for far too long,” Schumer said. “Screening only 5 percent of roughly 11 million containers that come in to the United States is not only an outrage, its dangerous.”
   The Associated Press quoted Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-N.V., as saying another amendment would bolster security on trains and buses and at chemical plants, strengthen U.S. intelligence missions overseas and approve all of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations, half of which are still undone.”
   Under Schumer’s proposal foreign ports that participate in the Container Security Initiative would be required to adopt a system within two years that scans every container for nuclear materials, then takes an internal image of the container’s contents, and then tags it with a bar code or radio frequency identification tag so security personnel can track the box at any point during shipping.
   The bill would also direct DHS to distribute $500 million in competitive grants over two years for research and development of new technology, funded by a seaport user fee.