Reply #28: Graham Blasts Bush for Failing to Secure America's Ports [View All]

[lkinsale]

Graham Blasts Bush for Failing to Secure America's Ports

Washington DC -- Senator Bob Graham today criticized the Bush Administration's decision to redirect appropriated funds away from protecting America's three largest seaports from potential terrorist activity and towards covering budget shortfalls in other areas.

Last week, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief Admiral James Loy testified before a Senate hearing on homeland security that TSA, which is a part of the Homeland Security Administration, is refusing to follow the direction of Congress and spend $58 million in allocated funds on Operation Safe Commerce, a program meant to strengthen security at seaports in Los Angeles, Seattle and New York by monitoring the contents and integrity of containers from the point that they are loaded to the point they are unloaded. Loy told the panel that the funds would be redirected to cover significant budget shortfalls in other areas of homeland security.

"Once again this Administration has its priorities mixed up," said Graham. "After underfunding first-responders in the states, now President Bush is shortchanging the security of our ports -one of our greatest vulnerabilities to terrorist threats."