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Veterans' Day Ceremony - Greer Band |
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DeMint to Offer Bill Banning Serious Felons from Working at US Ports
Senator urges colleagues to cosponsor Secure Port Workforce Act |
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October 13th, 2006 - WASHINGTON, D.C - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) sent a letter to all U.S. Senators, urging them to cosponsor The Secure Port Workforce Act. The legislation, to be introduced when Congress returns after the November elections, would prevent serious felons from having access to secure areas at U.S. ports and plug a major hole in The SAFE Ports Act.
“The port security bill makes many improvements, but it leaves a gaping hole in our port security system,” said Senator DeMint. “If we don’t do something to prevent serious felons from working at our ports, these measures will mean nothing. We can spend all the money in the world screening cargo but if we don’t screen the people working at our ports, we can’t expect to prevent a terrorist attack.”
“A serious felon could be manipulated or bribed by people trying to smuggle a nuclear device or chemical weapon into our country. It’s absolutely ridiculous to trust convicted murderers and weapons smugglers with secure access to our ports, and this legislation will put a stop to it.”
Senator DeMint is a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation which has jurisdiction over the program that regulates who can have access to secure areas in ports.
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Below is the text of the “Dear Colleague” letter sent to all U.S. Senators:
October 13, 2006
COSPONSOR THE SECURE PORT WORKFORCE ACT
Dear Colleague:
Before we left for recess, Congress passed crucial legislation to enhance the safety of American ports. While the legislation states serious steps to ensure that America’s ports are secure, it omitted language ensuring that the workers who have access to secure areas in the port are trustworthy and do not pose a terrorism risk. During the Senate consideration of the Port Security Act, I offered and the Senate unanimously approved language denying access to secure areas in our ports to serious felons who had been convicted of:
Espionage; Sedition; Treason; Terrorism; Crimes involving transportation security; Improper transport of a hazardous material; Unlawful use of an explosive device; Murder; Violations of the RICO Act where one of the above crimes is a predicate act; Conspiracy to commit any of these crimes.
It would have also barred convicted felons who had been convicted in the last seven years (or incarcerated in the last five years) of:
Assault with intent to murder; Kidnapping or hostage taking; Rape or aggravated sexual abuse; Unlawful use of a firearm; Extortion; Fraud; Bribery; Smuggling; Immigration violations; Racketeering; Robbery; Drug dealing; Arson; Conspiracy to commit any of these crimes.
These restrictions are nearly identical to the prohibitions that keep criminals from working at American airports. Unfortunately the language was stripped in conference and the only people prohibited by Congress from having access to the secure areas of our ports are convicted traitors, spies and terrorists – a population of criminals so small it doesn’t begin to address the security problems at our ports.
Law enforcement officials understand the threat our ports face when traditional crime, particularly organized crime, works with terrorists. Just recently the FBI apprehended a member of the Russian mafia attempting to sell missiles to an FBI agent he thought was acting as a middleman for terrorists. Joseph Billy Jr., the FBI’s top counterterrorism official, commented that the FBI is “continuing to look for a nexus,” between organized crime and terrorists and that they “are looking at this very aggressively.”
Congress also needs to act aggressively to do its part to ensure that the workforce in America’s ports does not pose a homeland security threat. The threat isn’t only criminals working directly with terrorists; it is criminals looking the other way when a suspect container comes through the port. Joseph King, a former Customs Service agent and now a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, outlined the concern very clearly. “It’s an invitation to smuggling of all kinds,” he said. “Instead of bringing in 50 kilograms of heroin, what would stop them from bringing in five kilograms of plutonium?” A criminal in one of our ports may think he is just helping smuggle in drugs, but inadvertently be helping smuggle a weapon of mass destruction into the United States.
Regardless of the motives of criminals, having serious felons working in secure areas of our ports poses a real threat to our homeland security.
I hope you will join me as a cosponsor of this crucial piece of legislation and help plug one of the holes in our homeland security system. If we act quickly, we may have the opportunity to take up this important issue when we return from recess. Please do not hesitate to contact me or Hap Rigby of my staff at 4-6121 if you have any questions about the Secure Port Workforce Act.
Sincerely,
Jim DeMint
United States Senator
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