RILA urges Congress to slow down on cargo security legislation

RILA urges Congress to slow down on cargo security legislation The Retail Industry Leaders Association said it sent a letter to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives encouraging them to stick to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission when considering any port security legislation.
   On Friday, House Democrats introduced legislation to implement many of the three-year-old recommendations for preventing and recovering from terrorist attacks. The House is following through on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's agenda for rapid action during the first week in session. Democrats claim that the Bush administration and previous Republican-controlled Congress ignored many of the 9/11 recommendations, but no comparable legislation has yet been produced in the Senate.
   The bill includes sections that would require all cargo containers to receive X-ray-type inspections within three years if they come from countries that ship more than 75,000 TEUs to the United States. Containers from all other countries would need to meet the 100 percent scanning requirement within five years.
   The bill also calls for security seals on containers and 100 percent scanning of cargo on passenger airlines.
   RILA argued that the bill does not dovetail the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which did not specifically call for scanning all containers as a means of improving port and cargo security.
   The trade association urged the House to hold off on re-examining port security issues until the SAFE Port Act, which as enacted last fall, can be fully implemented. Under the law, the Department of Homeland Security would commence pilot projects at seven ports this year to test the feasibility of scanning all containers without bogging down container traffic.
   'We are opposed to any efforts by the Congress to impose 100 percent scanning mandates without the benefit of the recently adopted scanning pilot initiatives, and urge you to focus on and follow the 9/11 Commission recommendations,” RILA President Sandy Kennedy wrote.