Thank you Mr. Chairman, for convening this hearing on the Container Security Initiative (CSI) and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). These programs represent critical layers in the protection of American cargo and ports.

Cargo security is especially important to my state of Hawaii because, as I have noted in many Committee hearings, Hawaii receives 98 percent of the goods its imports via the sea. An interruption in sea commerce could have a staggering impact on the daily lives of the people in Hawaii.

Last week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chertoff stated that we need to create a world that is banded together with "worldwide security envelopes," which he described as secure environments through which people and cargo can move rapidly, efficiently, and safely. Programs such as CSI and C-TPAT (pronounced C - T - PAT), which use voluntarily submitted information to focus scarce screening resources on high-risk shippers and cargo, should be cornerstones of Secretary Chertoff's vision.

It is important not only to examine whether these programs function well but how they will fit into Secretary Chertoff's vision of a worldwide security envelope. I have yet to see details that convince me that DHS has executed the planning necessary to achieve such a coordinated, global effort.

There is minimal coordination of international programs across the Department. For example, there are Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents investigating illegal customs activities in countries that have CSI ports and yet often the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and ICE (pronounced "ICE") teams do not talk to each other.

CSI teams are scrubbing data daily looking for anomalies (AH - NOM - O - LEES) relating to weapons of mass destruction. But we also must be concerned about drug smuggling, human trafficking, counterfeit goods, and invasive species. We need to ensure that our international partnerships are not program-specific.

DHS's Office of International Affairs could play a critical role in coordinating operations abroad of the various entities within the Department. We need effective coordination to ensure our various security programs are integrated and mutually reinforcing.

I look forward to the testimony of our witnesses. Thank you Mr. Chairman.