Maine Senators Focus on Security
Security
Bangor Daily News
Lauren Smith
Boston University Washington News Service
9/13/2006
WASHINGTON — In the week of 9/11’s five-year anniversary, both Maine senators focused their attention on security issues.
Sen. Susan Collins’ cargo security legislation finally hit the Senate floor. She was also able to include provisions in the 2007 defense spending bill that favor Bath Iron Works and Maine defense. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, meanwhile, pressed the Senate to improve security of the passenger rail system.
The Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Collins chairs, also reached agreement with the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on another bill to increase cargo screening at ports and institute other security measures and contingency plans in case of terrorist attacks.
Roughly 95 percent of the nation’s overseas trade enters or leaves through U.S. seaports, according to Collins, and foreign vessels carry the majority of goods that come into the country.
“The link between maritime security and our national security is evident,” Collins said in a press release. “This legislation will provide the structure and the resources needed to better protect the American people from attack through seaports, which are both vulnerable points of entry and vital centers of economic activity.”
Collins was also able to get $3.4 billion in the 2007 defense budget, which the Senate passed last week, for the DD(X) naval construction program, which aims to build a new series of high-tech vessels, one of which will be constructed at Bath. Collins was also able to garner nearly $50 million in defense-related projects specifically for Maine in the budget.
“In addition to identifying the most likely threats, we must constantly assess and improve our efforts to counter them,” Collins said at a Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday. “While our efforts over the past five years have been substantial, they are not a task accomplished, but one under way.”
Snowe also supported an amendment to port security legislation that would require the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a passenger and baggage screening pilot program at five Amtrak stations and establish specific security measures, including testing explosives detection technologies and requiring picture IDs from passengers before they board a train. The amendment, introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), asks the department to complete a vulnerability assessment for rail infrastructure and make recommendations about security weaknesses. Additionally, it would require the department to sign a letter of agreement with the Department of Transportation to make clear each department’s roles and responsibilities for the nation’s rail security.
“Since the terrorist attacks of Sept.11th, we have worked to improve the overall security of our nation,” Snowe said in a statement. “But we still have to do more to secure our transportation infrastructure and specifically our nation’s vulnerable rail network.”
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