Security Briefs
The Latest Headlines:
- Senate Passes Final Homeland Security Bill
- Delays in Funding Hold Up Security Missions
- DOT, Customs Launch Cargo Security Initiatives
- Mineta Says All 429 Airports Have Screeners
- Delays in Funding Hold Up Security Missions
Senate Passes Final Homeland Security Bill
The U.S. Senate voted 90-9 to authorize the largest government reorganization since World War II, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.By clearing the Senate, the bill to create the Department of Homeland Security only needs President Bush’s signature to begin in earnest the job of combining 22 disparate federal agencies under the homeland security umbrella.
Democrats had objected to several clauses they saw aimed at helping special interests, but voted overwhelmingly to approve the department, AP said.
In all, 22 agencies will be merged, employing 170,000 and with a budget of about $40 billion annually, AP said. Transport Topics
Delays in Funding Hold Up Security Missions
As Congress focuses on forming a Department of Homeland Security during its lame-duck session, it appears that several appropriations bills for security projects with implications for the trucking industry will not get passed, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.Chief among these is a package of $20 million in truck security grants the Transportation Security Administration is witholding because of budget constraints. Currently, the TSA is operating on a budget that is $466 million less than what it had been expecting for the next two months, a Department of Transportation official told the paper.
Also being left unfunded are a program for the Customs Service to inspect cargo heading to the United States from 15 of the world’s 20 busiest ports, major TSA computer and technology purchases and government reimbursements to the airline industry for fortification of cockpit doors, the TSA may even have to furlough some workers in January if it doesn’t get funding for a mandated 3.1% raise for its workers, the Post reported.
With the legislative schedule as it currently stands, it is unlikely that Congress will address these bills until February 2003 at the earliest. Transport Topics
DOT, Customs Launch Cargo Security Initiatives
The Department of Transportation and the Customs Service said Wednesday that they are jointly launching Operation Safe Commerce, a program to fund busines initiatives to enhance security for international container cargo.The program, the DOT said in a release, will be a testing ground for new techniques and a way to identify weak spots in the supply chain.
The Transportation Security Administration is seeking proposals from the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York/New Jersey and Seattle/Tacoma as part of the plan.
The OSC will be funded by $28 million, provided by the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act, the DOT said. Transport Topics
Mineta Says All 429 Airports Have Screeners
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said Monday that federally trained passenger screeners have been deployed at all 429 U.S. airports, one day before the first anniversary of the formation of the Transportation Security Administration, USA Today reported.The deployment of passenger screeners was just one of several intiatives designed to increase airline security after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Despite the success with the passenger screeners, Mineta said that the TSA won't be able to put baggage-screening equipment in all U.S. airports ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline, the paper said. Transport Topics
