HOLLINGS SEEKS $2 BILLION FOR MARITIME SECURITY PROGRAMS

HOLLINGS SEEKS $2 BILLION FOR MARITIME SECURITY PROGRAMS    Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., has proposed an amendment to the budget resolution to guarantee funding over the next two years for port security.
   Holling’s amendment would use $2 billion of the proposed tax cuts to pay for the requirements of the 2002 Maritime Transportation Security Act. This law, co-authored by Hollings, establishes federal security requirements for the nation’s seaports.
   A spokesman for Hollings said in a statement March 19, “despite the enormous consequences for that could result from an attack on a port, the mandates in the new law currently remain unfunded.”
   The annual $1 billion would be broken down as follows:
   Maritime Administration: $610 million.
   * Grants to ports and waterfront facilities to help ensure compliance with federally approved security plans, $450 million for.
   * Grants to states and local authorities to help them comply with federal area security plans and to provide grants to responders for port security contingency response, $150 million.
   * Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to help develop a seaport security training program for both federal and state law enforcement personnel, and to certify private security personnel working at the ports, $10 million.
   Coast Guard: $160 million.
   * Port security assessments, $50 million.
   * Creation and operation of a multi-agency task force to coordinate and evaluate maritime information to help identify and respond to security threats, $50 million.
   * Help implement the Automated Identification System (AIS) and other tracking systems designed to track and monitor vessels operating in U.S. waters, $40 million.
   * Additional Coast Guard port security vessels, $20 million.
   Border Transportation Security Directorate: $230 million.
   * Customs for the installation of screening equipment to help develop new technologies and detection prototypes in the ports, $100 million.
   * Transportation Security Agency and Customs to evaluate and implement cargo security programs, $50 million each.
   Under the Hollings amendment, the TSA would receive $30 million a year for the next two years to develop and implement the Transportation Worker ID Card, and to conduct criminal background checks of transportation workers who work in secure areas or who work with sensitive cargo or information.