House Democrats want Coast Guard to OK inbound security plans

House Democrats want Coast Guard to OK inbound security plans    A chamber of ranking House Democrats want the U.S. Coast Guard to hold the line for approving security plans of foreign-flag ships entering the nation’s ports.
   By a vote of 395-19, the chamber voted to instruct conferees to hold to the provision in a House bill requiring the Coast Guard to approve security plans of foreign-flag ships entering the United States.
   The Coast Guard has been allowing foreign-flag vessels to have security plans approved by their home country government. A Senate version of the bill would affirm the Coast Guard’s policy.
   The House Democrats point out that the Coast Guard is required to approve vessel security plans under the 2002 Maritime Transportation Security Act. However, the Coast Guard signed off on amendments to the international Safety of Life at Sea Convention that precludes the agency from reviewing the security plan of a ship entering U.S. ports if the plan has already been approved by a government in which the ship is registered.
   “The Coast Guard negotiated away the power of the U.S. to inspect the security plans approved by other countries, and to see whether a vessel operating under a foreign flag is in compliance with the security plan of the country of registry of that vessel,” said Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., ranking democratic member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, in a statement Thursday.
   House Democrats say they’re concerned that for economics and convenience many vessel operators are registered in small countries known for their “lax enforcement of maritime regulations.”
   “Look at some of the largest registries in the world, like Panama, Malta and Cyprus, and you will find vessels that are often detained by the Coast Guard for violations of international safety laws,” said Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., ranking Democrat for the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee. “Now we expect those countries to protect U.S. citizens by making sure that their vessels have adequately implemented security plans. I, for one, am not willing to delegate our security responsibilities to the government of Panama, Malta or Cyprus.”
   The House Democrats further accused the Bush administration of backpeddling on its initial homeland security agenda.
   “Didn’t the president of the United States say, and hasn’t he said repeatedly, ‘I will never ask permission of the United Nations to defend the United States. I will never ask permission of a foreign government to protect the citizens of the United States. We are not going to ask for a permission slip,'” Oberstar said. “This treaty is a permission slip.”