Haley Stevens: “the passage of this port security legislation marks the first time three Senate committees and their House counterparts…”

“the passage of this port security legislation marks the first time three Senate committees and their House counterparts have merged their collective expertise and crafted a truly comprehensive approach to port security. A bipartisan group of Members from both Chambers of Congress dedicated several months to developing this bill to better secure America. It is a credit to the Senate and the House that each committee involved agreed to pool their resources, put aside jurisdictional issues, and reach consensus on this bill. This act strengthens security at our land and sea ports, improves our maritime transportation security strategy, and enhances communication between the Department of Homeland Security and transportation security stakeholders. It includes a plan to get our trade activities up and running again in the event of a transportation security incident. And it creates a pilot program which will study the feasibility of scanning each of the containers--100 percent of the containers--entering our ports. This legislation will enhance the collection and analysis of information about cargo destined for our ports, and this bill aims to increase awareness of the operations at domestic and foreign ports. Once those in industry share important information about cargo in the international supply chain, we must analyze it quickly. This legislation expedites that process and ensures it begins earlier in the supply chain--before containers even reach our shores.”