FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2006
CONTACT: Jamie Loftus
SENATOR HUTCHISON LAUDS SIGNING OF PORT SECURITY BILL
WASHINGTON, DC -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today hailed President George W. Bush’s signing of the SAFE Ports Act as a significant step to secure our nation’s ports.
“Port security is an integral part of our national defense and economic security. This bill addresses port vulnerabilities and provides a much-needed increase in security funding and the number of Customs and Border Protection Officers,” Sen. Hutchison said. “An attack on the Port of Houston, or other port with petro-chemical facilities, could interrupt our energy supply, cripple our economy and threaten millions of lives.”
On September 29, Congress approved the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006. The bill includes an amendment introduced by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) which will increase the number of Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBP). The amendment, which was approved by a vote of 97-0 when Sen. Hutchison introduced it in the Senate, adds an additional 275 CBP officers at U.S. ports, raising the total number of new officers called for in the bill to 1,000.
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