Haley Stevens: “as we all know, Monday marks the fifth anniversary of September 11 and the terrorist attacks against this country.…”

“as we all know, Monday marks the fifth anniversary of September 11 and the terrorist attacks against this country. Shortly after those attacks, during the 107th Congress, the President signed into law the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, which was developed by our Commerce Committee to enhance our country's maritime security. Since then, our Commerce Committee has worked as hard as possible to pass and implement a number of initiatives which have made our ports and borders more secure. Today we take up the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006. This bill marks the first time three Senate committees have merged their collective expertise and crafted a truly comprehensive approach to port security. A bipartisan group of members from the Commerce Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have worked together for several months on this bill. As I know the Senate will realize, these three committees each have tremendous knowledge about our ports and programs which protect and secure our international supply chain. I believe it is a credit to the Senate that each committee agreed to pool their resources, put aside jurisdictional issues, and reach a consensus on this bill. When enacted, this bill will strengthen our land and sea ports, improve our maritime transportation security strategy, and enhance communication between the Department of Homeland Security and transportation security stakeholders.…”