Ports take security funding message to Capitol Hill

Ports take security funding message to Capitol Hill    The American Association of Port Authorities today will urge the U.S. Congress to reject a proposal by the Department of Homeland Security to shift a grant program dedicated to helping ports fund security improvements into a catch-all grant program that covers domestic transportation systems and other types of critical infrastructure.
   Last week the trade group, which represents public ports, expressed alarm over the Bush administration’s call in the fiscal 2006 budget to eliminate dedicated grants for ports and put them in a $600 million pot that would force ports to compete with many industries for limited resources.
   A dedicated funding stream should remain because Congress specifically authorized a port grant program and placed security obligations on ports through the Maritime Transportation Security Act, according to a copy of today’s testimony by Jean Godwin, executive vice president, posted in advance on the association’s Web site.
   “While critical infrastructure protection is important, using it as the sole criteria for making decisions on funding for port security is a bad idea,” Godwin said.
   Ports have complained that the grant program only covers one-sixth of the amount the Coast Guard estimates it will take industry to fortify security processes and infrastructure. So far about $565 million in grants have been doled out to ports through the program, which currently resides in the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness.