HOLLINGS: SEAPORT SECURITY WOULD COST THE U.S. $1 BILLION

HOLLINGS: SEAPORT SECURITY WOULD COST THE U.S. $1 BILLION    Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and chief sponsor of seaport security legislation pending in Congress, said the cost to adequately secure the country’s seaports'against terrorist activities would be about $1 billion.
   The danger of terrorist attacks in U.S. seaports and waterways is significant, Hollings told leaders of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs Thursday.
   Hollings emphasized the need to pass the seaport security legislation to begin closing the gaps on security in maritime operations as soon as possible.
   Hollings and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., introduced the seaport security bill last year, which at the time was more focused on preventing crime, theft and human smuggling in seaports. It was expanded to address terrorist threats after the Sept. 11th attacks on the United States.
   “Most Americans would be surprised to discover there is no unified federal plan for overseeing the security of the international borders at our seaports,” Hollings said in a statement to the committee.
   The Interagency Commission on Crime and Security at U.S. Seaports issued a report last year that found security in U.S. seaports to range “from poor to fair.” “Let me repeat that 17 federal agencies — including law enforcement agencies such as FBI, Coast Guard, DEA, and Customs — reviewed our port security system and found it in poor shape,” Hollings said.
   Hollings said his bill “creates mechanisms to integrate all these different security agencies and their efforts to improve the security of our seaports.”
   The United States has 361 sea and river ports which handle about 95 percent of U.S. international trade.
   With the airport security legislation passed, Congress is eager to tighten security'for ocean and intermodal transport. “Not since Dec. 7, 1941, which was 60 years ago tomorrow (Friday), has the question of security so dominated our national debate,” said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.