Homeland Security Appropriations: Opening Statement
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and welcome to Deputy Commissioner Ahern, Director Oxford, and our guests from outside of the Department.
As DHS passes its fifth anniversary, the Department continues to seek the appropriate balance between the demands of commerce with that of needed security. While finding that balance with the more than 22 million cargo containers that enter the United States each year has proven to be as elusive as it is challenging, it is undeniable that real progress has been made. In 2007, CBP, with the help of DNDO:
- Expanded the Container Security Initiative to 58 international seaports, covering 86% of inbound containerized cargo to the U.S.;
- Validated over 3,000 supply chains, representing a 27% increase above 2006. Of this total, over 600 are re-validations—marking the first year CBP’s C-TPAT program began a systematic process of re-validation.
- Deployed 142 new radiation portal monitors in support of scanning 100% of containerized cargo crossing the southern land border, 98% of all seaport containerized cargo, and 91% of containerized cargo crossing the northern land border.
- Conducted more than 17,000 trade enforcement seizures valued at $359 million.
- Deployed the next generation of advanced targeting and manifest processing systems, including the electronic truck manifest, or e-Manifest, system to 99% of land border ports, processing nearly 30,000 trucks a day.
- And, launched the Secure Freight Initiative, or SFI, pilot program in accordance with the SAFE Port Act.
Although it certainly remains to be seen how well these programs—some less than a year old—will ultimately pan out, progress has, indeed, been made.
Now, I know we have all been critical of the Department in the past. But let me point out that it is not the critic who counts. The credit goes to those actually in the arena and those doing their very best to keep us all safe. After all, with the exception of Deputy Commissioner Ahern and Director Oxford, we have all been mere spectators on the sidelines over the last five years and it is a much different role to be critical than to actually do the work.
Since DHS was established, we’ve learned a great deal about allocating scarce resources to address the greatest threats and mitigate our greatest risks. Today, I hope to hear about how DHS is applying those lessons as I firmly believe the scope and complexity of the cargo shipping industry lends itself not to the Draconian treatment of every aspect of the supply chain, but rather, to a robust, adaptable, layered approach to security that facilitates that delicate balance between legitimate trade and security that is so vital to the interests of the United States.
Which brings us to today and the question of where do we go from here? In many ways, the requirements of the SAFE Port Act and the wide-ranging mandates of the 9/11 Act have charted a course for the future of cargo container security. But, new and emerging developments in items such as a resilient, effective Container Security Device, improved targeting systems, and advanced radiation detection systems may alter that course in yet another direction—one that I hope to learn more about today.
Gentlemen, since the days of Alexander Hamilton and the founding of our Customs Service, the mission of counter smuggling has essentially remained unchanged. What has changed, unfortunately, is the known, radical intent to do harm and the fact that the contraband now ranges beyond counterfeit goods to illicit drugs, captive humans, and nuclear material—threats that are as devastating as they come. These are some of the issues I hope to discuss today. The chore of finding the proverbial needle in a haystack of millions of cargo containers is one I certainly do not envy, but it is, in fact, DHS’s responsibility. No one wants to see the Department succeed more than the Members of this Subcommittee.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to today’s discussion.