Congress Passes 9/11 Commission Bill Requiring 100 Percent Maritime Cargo Scanning

Provision Based on Rep. Nadler’s "Sail Only if Scanned (SOS) Act"

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), the highest ranking member of the Transportation Committee from New York, today applauded the House passage of the conference report on H.R. 1, the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007. The bill includes a provision Rep. Nadler has personally advocated for five years that requires the scanning of 100 percent of all cargo containers before they are loaded on ships bound for the United States.

The legislation has already been approved by the Senate and now heads to President Bush for his signature.

"Twelve million shipping containers enter our ports every year, and we currently inspect less than six percent of them," said Rep. Nadler. "With this bill, every container bound for America will be electronically scanned. Our nation’s ports are a gaping hole in our ability to block nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and their components from entering our country – a hole that we are beginning to plug today. I thank my colleagues, and, in particular the House Democratic leadership for supporting this measure and the cargo scanning provision, and I urge the President to stand for our security and sign the bill into law."

The cargo scanning requirements of H.R. 1 are based on language introduced by Rep. Nadler two years ago. Rep. Nadler’s Sail Only if Scanned (S.O.S.) Act called for all shipping containers bound for the U.S. to be scanned for radiation and density at foreign ports. That bill was supported by the House Democratic Leadership, the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Jim Oberstar, the current Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and many others.

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