Susan Collins: “You can read the entire 567 pages of the ``9/11 Commission Report'' as I have and you will not find a recommendation to…”

“You can read the entire 567 pages of the ``9/11 Commission Report'' as I have and you will not find a recommendation to undertake 100-percent scanning of cargo containers. This bill's purpose--the bill before us--is to finish the business of implementing the 9/11 Commission Report recommendations. Senator Schumer's and Senator Menendez's amendment is not one of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Further, I want to address what has been said about our system for improving the security of our seaports by focusing on cargo container security. The fact is a great deal has been done since the attacks on our country on September 11, 2001. We have a layered approach to cargo security. It balances security interests against the need for efficient movement of millions of containers through our seaports each year--11 million, in fact, last year alone. One layer is the screening of all cargo manifests at least 24 hours before the cargo is loaded onto ships bound for our shores. That screening, along with work done by the Coast Guard, is used in DHS's automated targeting system which identifies high-risk containers. As a result of the cargo security bill that we passed last fall, we have a requirement that 100 percent of all high-risk cargo be subjected to scanning and that is appropriate. We want to focus our resources on the cargo that is of highest risk.”