Homeland Security Border and Maritime Security Panel to Hold Hearing on Supply Chain Security

Washington, D.C. – The Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI), will hold a hearing entitled “Balancing Maritime Security and Trade Facilitation: Protecting our Ports, Increasing Commerce and Securing the Supply Chain – Part I” tomorrow, Tuesday, February 7 at 10 a.m. in Room 311 Cannon House Office Building.

The Subcommittee will focus on the Obama Administration’s new National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security, released on January 25.  The hearing will also examine other cargo security issues, such as the Administration’s use of a risk-based cargo screening method to maximize efficiency as well as potential updates to the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows the agency to partner with industry to provide an additional layer of security.

Miller said: “More than 11 million cargo containers arrive in America’s ports every year, which present the potential for dangerous materials being smuggled into our country through the supply chain.  We have been successful in interdicting illegal guns, money, drugs, and even people, being smuggled through cargo containers in the past, and this hearing will examine the potential for terrorists and others to manipulate our supply chains and endanger our ports.  My hearing will examine the integrity of the supply chain, the government agencies whose job it is to screen and inspect cargo to secure our ports, and how the Obama Administration’s new National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security outlines the nation’s plan to guard against these threats.”

What:        Subcommittee Hearing on “Balancing Maritime Security and Trade Facilitation: Protecting our Ports, Increasing Commerce and Securing the Supply Chain – Part I”

When:        10 a.m., Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Where:      311 Cannon House Office Building

                   **Live video feed will be available HERE

Opening statements, witness testimony, and the live video feed will be available online HERE. 

Witness List:

Panel I

 Hon. Jerrold Nadler, a Representative in Congress from the 8th District of New York

Panel II

Assistant Secretary David Heyman, Office of Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Mr. Kevin McAleenan, Acting Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security and Stewardship, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Mr. Stephen Caldwell, Director, Maritime and Coast Guard Issues, Homeland Security and Justice Team, Government Accountability Office

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