WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Senate considers important homeland security legislation today, United States Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on Republican leaders and the President to drop their opposition to two recent measures authored by Lautenberg:

• TSA Security Screener Measure – Senator Lautenberg successfully attached an amendment to the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations bill to strike the cap on TSA screeners nationwide (Currently at 45,000.) However, House Republicans intend to reinstate the arbitrary 45,000 worker cap in the House-Senate conference bill.

• 100 Percent Cargo Screener Measure – In committee, Senator Lautenberg successfully attached language to the Port Security bill now on the Senate floor to require 100 percent screening of ALL cargo containers bound for U.S. ports. Currently, only five percent of all cargo containers are inspected. Republicans are already looking for ways to avoid the Lautenberg requirement. For example, Republicans have falsely claimed that Lautenberg’s language in the Port Security bill only covers three ports, when in fact it covers all U.S. ports.

“The American people want real security at our ports and airports – not the illusion of security we have today,” said Lautenberg. “Real security requires us to hire as many TSA screeners as we need, not allow an arbitrary cap on personnel to dictate our security. Inspecting five percent of containers coming into our ports is not real security. Real port security means checking all containers.”