US PORTS' SECURITY TARGETED

WASHINGTON - Sen. Fritz Hollings, concerned that smugglers are
enjoying a 98 percent success rate at the nation's seaports,
announced legislation Tuesday that he said is urgently needed to beef
up port safety and security. "If I were in the drug business down in
Colombia, I would load up 10 of those containers that come into the
ports of America, knowing that only one ... would be inspected,"
Hollings said. "Nine would go through free, and I'd have around
450,000 tons of cocaine on the market." A bill introduced by
Hollings, D-S.C., and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., would set up a
national task force to coordinate security programs, require the
Coast Guard to develop standards and conduct assessments and give $68
million to the Customs Service for screening equipment to combat drug
trafficking.

It also would give $80 million to the Transportation Department to
improve port infrastructure. Hollings said the measure would provide
the security needed to help seaports deal with drug smuggling,
illegal aliens, trade fraud, terrorism and "potential threats to our
ability to mobilize U.S. military forces."

"I think that the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs agency are doing an
outstanding job, but they are outgunned," he said. Hollings said the
government currently does not provide security guidelines - or
security funding - for the nation's 300 ports. He and Graham
introduced a similar measure last year, but it never got past the
Senate Commerce Committee. Hollings now chairs the panel and is
expected to make sure the bill reaches the Senate floor. The proposal
received a qualified endorsement in Charleston, where local officials
agreed that port security needs more attention, but also worried
about cookie-cutter guidelines from Washington. "Government action
increases awareness and helps national security, (but) every port is
different," said John Hassell, president of the Maritime Association
of the Port of Charleston. Byron Miller, spokesman for the State
Ports Authority, agreed. "There are vast differences between ports.

I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all way of addressing port
security." During a committee hearing, officials representing the
Coast Guard, Customs Service, Maritime Administration and the Bush
administration agreed that seaport crime and security are major
problems. "The sobering reality is, because we live in a country that
prides itself on the openness of democracy, we are always at risk of
a terrorist attack," said Adm. James Loy, commandant of the Coast
Guard. Rear Adm. James Underwood, national security advisor to
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, said current controls are not
enough to stop someone "intent on causing severe harm (to the United
States) by way of our seaports."

"The risk of a weapon of mass destruction being deployed against the
U.S. by such low-tech means as a shipping container delivered to a
seaport presents a difficult challenge, but one the U.S. cannot
afford to ignore," he said. One concern about the Hollings measure is
that heightened security could slow port operations. "A disruption of
the flow of cargo through our ports could have a significant negative
impact on our economy and our military readiness," said Bruce
Carlton, acting deputy maritime administrator. Hollings' and Graham's
"Port and Maritime Security Act of 2001" grew out of a report issued
last October by the Interagency Commission on Crime and Security in
U.S. Seaports. The commission, appointed by President Clinton at
Graham's request, said security weaknesses are jeopardizing efforts
to combat drug smugglers, cargo theft, the exportation of stolen
vehicles and trade fraud.