Rep. Cole Votes for Legislation to Keep Ports Safe and Secure

Rep. Cole Votes for Legislation to Keep Ports Safe and Secure

Recognizing the increased necessity to carefully monitor the goods and cargo passing through our country's ports of entry, Congressman Tom Cole voted today for the Security and Accountability for Every Port (SAFE) Act. This bipartisan bill will strengthen security at our nation's major ports and help prevent terrorists from harming our country.

"The events of September 11, 2001 showed us that our nation has vulnerabilities. It is our responsibility to realize those vulnerabilities and do everything possible to secure them. Today's bill will toughen the security at our nation's ports, eliminating weaknesses in our system and making it more difficult for terrorists to use our ports against us," Rep Tom Cole said.

This legislation protects our ports by enhancing security at each port, detecting and tracking packages en route to the United States and by working to prevent threats before from even leaving their country of origin.

"This three-pronged approach will help us detect threats to our country before they get through our borders. Ensuring the security and safety of our nation's ports of entry is critical to preventing another attack on our country," Rep. Tom Cole said.

"More needs to be done in the area of port security and I expect Congress to continue to work on this issue in coming sessions. However, this bill is a good start and deserves to be enacted," Congressman Tom Cole said.

This legislation provides $400 million per year to strengthen port security to prevent terrorist attacks and sets up training programs to ensure that our first responders, longshoremen and port management possess the tools they need to protect our ports.

http://www.house.gov/list/press/ok04_cole/portssecruity06.html