Security Briefs - May 10 - May 16
The Latest Headlines:
- Senate Terror Bill Would Increase Overall Funding
- CHP Replaces Troops at 3 California Bridges
- Officials Find Missing Truck
- FBI to Form a New Terrorism Unit
- Official Say Extremists Have Entered U.S. Via Cargo Ships
- National Guard Pulling Out of U.S. Airports
- Agencies Slow in Confronting Risk of Terror
- Warning Issued About Independence Day Attack
- CHP Replaces Troops at 3 California Bridges
Senate Terror Bill Would Increase Overall Funding
An anti-terrorism bill being drafted by Sen. Robert Byrd would greatly increase the overall price tag, as compared to a measure marked up and approved in the House Appropriations Committee, the Associated Press reported Thursday.However, the measure would apparently not alter the amount earmarked for domestic security, mostly for aviation and airports.
Byrd's bill would likely surpass $32 billion, the AP said, compared with the $29.4 billion version approved in the House committee.
Several senators have criticized Byrd’s bill, saying that the package should not be any larger than the House version, AP said.
The full House is expected to vote next week on the overall counterterror package. Transport Topics
CHP Replaces Troops at 3 California Bridges
California Highway Patrol Officers will replace National Guard troops that have guarded three major California bridges since November, the Associated Press reported Thursday.The troops were assigned to bridge guard duty after federal agencies warned of a threat to Western bridges, AP said.
Gov. Gray Davis said CHP officers, working with local police and surface patrols, boats, aircraft and electronic monitoring, will take over at the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles and San Diego's Coronado Bridge.
Troops will remain at the Golden Gate Bridge because it is a national treasure, Davis told AP. Transport Topics
Officials Find Missing Truck
Mexican police Thursday found a truck that had been stolen Sunday along with 10 tons of sodium cyanide, new reports said.However reports conflicted as to whether the entire cargo was still in the truck.
"There are some drums, but it looks like not all of them," Hidalgo state police director Federico Perez said. A television news report said all 10 tons were in the trailer.
Officials had said it was unlikely the three armed men who stole the truck were plotting to use it in a terrorist attack here or in the United States. Truck robberies are common in Mexico, particularly in the region just north of the capital, Mexico City.
The truck was located in Zacatlan, 120 miles north of Mexico City. Environmental and other officials were sent to investigate. Transport Topics
FBI to Form a New Terrorism Unit
FBI Director Robert Mueller is planning to create a new terrorism-fighting team that will oversee all terrorism investigations worldwide, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.Since Sept. 11, truck drivers have been asked by government officials to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. Earlier this week, American Trucking Associations and other North American trucking groups unveiled a plan that mobilizes truck drivers to prevent terrorists from using trucks as weapons. (Click here for more information.)
Officials said the aim of the program will be to change a terrorism fighting structure inside the FBI that often stretched thin the expertise of the New York field office, AP said.
This reorganization comes as the agency is being questioned about how much it knew prior to Sept. 11 about the threat of a terrorist strike. Transport Topics
Officials Say Extremists Have Entered U.S. Via Cargo Ships
Federal officials said that 25 Islamic extremists have illegally entered the U.S. since March as stowaways on cargo ships, Fox News reported Monday.If this causes a further tightening of port security, it could delay trucks that deliver goods once they arrive by ship into the country.
The Coast Guard, which has notified federal, state, and local officials, said the extremists entered through the ports of Miami, Savannah, Ga. and Long Beach, Calif.
A classified briefing is expected to take place on Tuesday to provide specifics to various law enforcement officials about the nature of the extremists and the quantity and quality of the information that the government has obtained, Fox said. Transport Topics
National Guard Pulling Out of U.S. Airports
In a scene reminiscent of the departure of an occupying army, National Guard troops left Chicago’s O’Hare airport late Friday and were replaced by officers from the Chicago Police Department, the New York Times reported.The scene has been played out in airports across the country as guardsmen were relieved of their duties and went back home to civilian life after more than six months spent monitoring the nation’s airports. Changes in airport security could affect trucks that deliver and pickup cargo to and from airports.
Cities have struck agreements with the Transportation Security Administration to supply officers until federal employees are ready to assume the job of monitoring terminals and screening baggage, the Times said.
And while the government hires and trains these new screeners, it has footed the bill for the approximately 7,000 National Guard troops stationed at 429 U.S. airports.
At O’Hare, the city has agreed to provide officers until the end of the year, but would like them replaced with federal workers sooner than that, the Times said. Transport Topics
Agencies Slow in Confronting Risk of Terror
Independent audits of security preparedness by internal government watchdogs have shown that several federal agencies have come up short, the New York Times reported Saturday.Conducted by inspectors general in the U.S. government, the audits have shown that agencies, including the departments of Energy, Agriculture and Transportation, have failed to do enough to prevent possible terrorist attacks, the Times said.
Friday, the DOT’s Inspector General said that neither federal government, nor state governments, had adequate resources to prevent fraud in obtaining a commercial driver license.
The Times said the report illustrates just how difficult it will be, even as the government pours millions of dollars into homeland defense, to defend the nation against future terror attacks. Transport Topics
Warning Issued About Independence Day Attack
U.S. intelligence officials said Monday they have received threats that terrorists may try to attack a nuclear power plant on July 4, the Associated Press reported.The government is taking the threat seriously and checking into the reliability of the claim, AP said. Another terrorist attack could hurt the economy and disrupt transportation networks.
An unnamed official said that the threat is just one of many circulating and is not being taken seriously enough to formally warn the country or change procedures at U.S. nuclear facilities. Transport Topics
