WASHINGTON, Oct 13 -

Vice Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) today applauded President Bush for signing comprehensive port security legislation into law.

Recognizing the threat of chemical, germ and nuclear weapons reaching the United States through the nation’s ports, Congress passed the Security and Accountability For Every (SAFE) Port Act, which authorizes $400 million per year for port security grants, takes significant steps to track and protect waterborne cargo en route to the United States, bolsters security at our nation’s ports and fully authorizes the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO).

“It is pivotal that we take the necessary steps to ensure that our ports and the 11 million pieces of cargo moving through them are safe and secure,” said Weldon. “This bill effectively addresses the lapses of security in our nation’s ports.  It implements measures to more thoroughly inspect cargo and ratchets up an existing risk-based, multilayered strategy that prevents harmful containers from reaching our shores.”

The SAFE Port Act calls for radiological detection equipment to be deployed at 22 of the nation’s busiest ports – scanning 98 percent of all inbound cargo containers – by the end of 2007. It also bolsters efforts to detect and deter acts of radiological terrorism against the United States through the further development of the global nuclear detection architecture.

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