Our ports are still vulnerable
A Times EditorialPublished September 19, 2006
There's nothing like election-year politics to get Congress serious about port security. The Senate voted unanimously last week to install nuclear detection monitors at the nation's busiest ports, including Tampa's. The measure also would add hundreds of border officers at the nation's seaports, provide grants for port security and expand screening of cargo on U.S.-bound container ships. It's a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.
Even with this latest measure, America's ports still are inexcusably vulnerable to terrorism. Only 4 percent to 6 percent of the 11-million containers shipped to the United States each year are fully inspected. The Senate would spend $835-million next year to provide more agents to inspect inbound cargo and expand scanning of nuclear or "dirty bomb" materials in U.S.-bound ships. The nation's 22 busiest ports - including Tampa's and five others in Florida - would receive new detection equipment by the end of 2007.
The bill is similar to what the House has approved, the president supports it and lawmakers expect a compromise soon. While it would start plugging a hole in the nation's border security, the measure still does not go far enough. As Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida points out, the 22 ports deemed the busiest comprise only a fourth of the nation's domestic container ports. And while ports have made some headway in screening for radiological material, it is far too easy to slip nonnuclear components - people and other weapons of mass destruction - under the radar.
The federal government needs to screen more ships before they leave foreign shores, escort more inbound vessels to American ports and inspect more cargo as it is unloaded on the docks. The Senate measure helps, but Congress still seems in denial about how little it would take to spark a catastrophe along our coasts. Nelson and others should continue pressing the issue and the reality that nuclear material is but one weapon to worry about.