Stephanie Tubbs Jones: “I rise simply to complain again as others have about port security in the United States of America. We cannot afford to…”

“I rise simply to complain again as others have about port security in the United States of America. We cannot afford to outsource our homeland security, and that is exactly what the Bush administration wants to do with the United Arab Emirates. On Monday, March 20, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Cleveland, Ohio, at Idea Stream, 1375 Euclid Avenue, I will be hosting a town hall meeting on port security in my congressional district. Everyone is invited, and we have free parking. The UAE deal has highlighted to the American people how vulnerable our ports remain more than 4 years after 9/11. They simply can't believe that only 6 percent of the cargo that comes into our ports is ever inspected before it is transported throughout our Nation. This is a serious gap in our homeland security, and it could have been prevented. For 4 years my Democratic colleagues and I have tried to increase funding for port security to shore up this serious security gap. And every single year the Republican majority has opposed our efforts. What are they waiting for? Are House Republicans waiting for biological or chemical agents to come through our ports to be used against Americans before they finally choose to act? We simply cannot afford to wait any longer. It's time for House Republicans to join Democrats in supporting the funding necessary to secure our ports. ____________________”