Rohrabacher Laments Chinese Scanning Technology For Use At Port of Los Angeles

Rohrabacher Laments Chinese Scanning Technology For Use At Port of Los Angeles

During a segment to air Friday, October 24th on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) called for tighter Department of Homeland Security standards for the procurement of new technologies used to protect our nation's ports. The Port of Los Angeles (POLA), the nation's largest and located in Rep. Rohrabacher's district, has purchased a mobile X-ray scanning system manufactured by Chinese company Nuctech. POLA is the first U.S. port to acquire the Chinese system.

"We should not be depending on Chinese technology for our national security," said Rohrabacher. "It's not the fault of the Port of Los Angeles for taking the lowest bidder but rather the fault of the federal government for not setting standards to prevent us from being dependent on our adversaries to provide equipment used for national security purposes."

Rohrabacher pointed out in a time of crisis, for example, the Chinese could potentially disable the equipment or withhold spare parts.

"What we have here is symptomatic of a China trade policy which as a whole has worked against the long term interests of the United States, both economically and in terms of national security," said Rohrabacher.

The scanning equipment will be used by the port police to inspect trucks and cruise ships scheduled to depart from the Port of Los Angeles. Nuctech's CEO is the son of China's President, Hu Jintao and is headquartered in Beijing.

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