Susan Collins: “The letter reads, in part, as follows: One-hundred percent container inspection proposals purport to be a cheap and…”

“The letter reads, in part, as follows: One-hundred percent container inspection proposals purport to be a cheap and effective way to ensure security. They are neither. It also fails to address fundamentally important security questions, it would disrupt American commerce, and it would cause foreign retaliation against American exports. . . . The proposal would effectively end Customs' Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), without so much as a hearing on the issue. This amendment rejects the strategic concept that there is low risk cargo that does not require inspection, and in doing so, it rejects many U.S. and international governmental efforts to create programs that reward supply chain participants for enhancing the security of their supply chains by inspecting their cargo less frequently. It also undermines the Container Security Initiative. That is the international cooperative program where we station our inspectors in foreign ports and work with the governments that host those ports. There are so many arguments against this amendment, Mr. President. The Washington Post said it very well in an editorial earlier this week as well. Most of all, let us remember what the implications are. I have visited the port in Seattle and have seen the VACIS machines that do the x rays. It took approximately 4 minutes to do that x ray of the container and then another 15 minutes to analyze the image.…”