House to Begin its Consideration of the SAFE Port Act on May 4, 2006
According to Congressional sources, the full House is expected to begin its consideration of the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act (H.R. 4954) on Thursday, May 4, 2006.
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H.R. 4954 was amended and ordered reported on April 26, 2006 by the House Homeland Security Committee. (See ITT's Online Archives or 04/28/06 news, 06042899 1, for previous BP summary.)
100% scanning amendment rejected during mark-up. During its April 26, 2006 mark up of H.R. 4954, the House Homeland Security Committee rejected a proposal that would have required scanning of all containers at foreign ports before loading on U.S.-bound ships.
Highlights of H.R. 4954. A House Homeland Security Committee press release states that H.R. 4954:
provides a total of $7.4 billion in federal funding to enhance port security, fully authorizing and codifying the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office,
requires DHS to deploy nuclear and radiological detection systems at all domestic seaports;
improves port security communication and information sharing at the federal, state, and local levels;
takes steps to enhance Container Security Initiative (CSI) and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) programs; and
helps track and protect shipments en route to the U.S., through improvements in high risk cargo targeting and tracking systems.
SAFE Port Act press release (dated 04/26/06) available at http://hsc.house.gov/PDFs/PR_SAFE_Port_Markup_042606.pdf.
SAFE Port Act (H.R. 4954), as amended and reported by House Homeland Security Committee, available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h4954rh.txt.pdf.
House Homeland Security Committee report on SAFE Port Act available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPaddress=162.140.64.21&filename=hr447p1.pdf&directory=/diskb/wais/data/109_cong_reports.