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RS News
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| 08/06/2008 7:27 AM |
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| DHS Ignoring Maritime Cargo Law, Lawmaker Says |
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| by Mickey McCarter |
| Wednesday, 06 August 2008 |
Rep. Thompson calls Chertoff's resistance 'troubling' On the heels of faulting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for misinterpreting a congressional mandate to scan 100 percent of passenger air cargo, House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) has decried the department's resistance to scanning 100 percent of US-bound maritime cargo for terrorist threats as well.
Congress established both requirements in the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act (PL 110-053), signed by President Bush on August 3, 2007. In a letter dated August 5, Thompson accused Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff of actively resisting compliance with the maritime cargo screening mandate in the past year.
"Your actions to hinder progress on this vital homeland security initiative are very troubling and may have put at risk our nation's security and the credibility of the American government in the eyes of our international partners," Thompson wrote.
Thompson reminded Chertoff that the 9/11 Act calls for scanning all maritime cargo containers loaded onto vessels heading for the United States by July 1, 2012, outlining a tiered approach for reaching that point over a five year-period to allow for the deployment of procedures and technologies.
The chairman cited materials and testimony from DHS that indicate the department has chosen to focus on "high-risk trade corridors" rather than implement 100 percent scanning of maritime cargo. He expected DHS to use the results of a pilot known as the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) as the basis for meeting this requirement, but instead he was surprised to discover that the final SFI report to Congress indicated the department would "focus future scanning deployments on high-risk trade corridors, which represent the greatest threat to the United States."
The language of the report sidesteps the intent of Congress to achieve 100 percent scanning of all US-bound maritime cargo to ensure discovery of any terrorist materials that may be used to make dirty bombs, for example, Thompson stated. The congressman further blamed the withdrawal of two nations and at least one port operator on confusion generated by DHS on the 100 percent scanning requirement.
Indeed, Chertoff has criticized the law, claiming true 100 percent scanning would suppress the flow of commercial goods and cripple trade and impossible to meet besides due to a lack of foreign compliance.
"[N]ot every port has an architecture that accommodates radiation scanning for 100 percent. Not every government is going to choose to allow us to do it. And when you're dealing with transshipment, there may be some mechanical and technological challenges," Chertoff remarked in a speech on Nov. 15, 2007.
"Although I agree that to the extent we can do scanning overseas, that's a good thing, this is an area where I think as we see the experience over the next few years, Congress is going to have to take a hard look at whether mandating truly 100 percent radiation scanning of everything in an overseas port is reasonable and properly balanced risk management."
US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ralph Basham also spoke out against the requirement for 100 percent scanning in recent speeches while noting that his agency was moving to meet the requirements of the law. Basham noted that 100 percent scanning may not be the best use of taxpayer funds and "[n]either should anyone be misled that 100 percent scanning equals 100 percent security" in a speech in April.
Thompson instructed Chertoff to reply to his concerns by August 11, describing what DHS is doing to meet the deadline in 2012, describing what strategy and materials would assist the next secretary of Homeland Security in meeting the mandate, explaining why DHS is focusing on high-risk trade corridors instead of 100 percent scanning, and defining what a high-risk trade corridor is.
Thompson and other members of Congress criticized the Transportation Security Administration last week for declaring it would not screen air passenger cargo originating outside of the United States, insisting the 9/11 Act required such screening as a part of 100 percent screening of passenger air cargo by 2010.
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