Senate committee approves port security legislation
Bill will support radiological material detection, TWIC, and C-TPAT programs; full Senate expected to pass legislation Tuesday; cost is only remaining issue for House
This has not been the most energetic congress in history, but at least it is not letting the 9/11 aniversary and tomorrow’s primary elections interfere with port security legislation. The Senate Finance, Commerce, and Homeland Security Committee has reached agreement on the long-delayed $858 million bill intended to prevent terrorists from smuggling radiological materials through U.S. ports, expedite the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, establish an interagency operational center for port security, and implement the voluntary Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT).
After the full Senate passes the bill as expected on Tuesday, the House, which previously passed a similar version of the bill, will immediately take up the issue. With elections looming, there is great pressure on both sides of the aisle to pass the bill long before November. The only major sticking point now is the cost.
-read more in this Port Security News report