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| Bush signs law on security for US ports | |
| 2006-10-14 | |
| President George W. Bush signed a law designed to bolster security at US ports and prevent terrorists from smuggling in nuclear weapons. Bush, who has portrayed the opposition Democrats as failing to grasp the nature of the terrorist threat after the attacks of September 11, 2001, used the signing ceremony as an opportunity to hammer home his campaign message on security. "We're going to protect our ports. We're going to defend this homeland, and we're going to win this war on terror," said Bush, surrounded by Republican lawmakers. Entitled the "Security and Accountability For Every (SAFE) Port Act of 2006," the law provides 3.4 billion dollars over five years to strengthen security at ports and requires radiation detection technology to be installed in 22 of the country's largest ports by the end of 2007. The measure calls for bolstering inspections on some 11 million containers that transit American ports every year, deploying inspectors to foreign ports to check cargo headed to US ports, and speeding up paperwork from private shipowners. The opposition Democrats mostly supported the law, but said the Bush administration has neglected other vulnerable sectors such as rail and mass transit.
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| Posted by:Steve White |