Washington

Ever since the World Trade Center towers collapsed on September 11, 2001, seaports have been preparing for the possibility of an attack. Unfortunately, we still know very little about what is inside the six million containers entering U.S. seaports each year. These millions of cargo containers are being brought into our country with little to no scrutiny. Truck drivers are able to drop off and pick up these containers with no more than a flash of their driver’s license identification. Washington’s ports are responsible for operating more than just shipping cargo; in addition, they also build and operate marinas, docks, airports, railroads, industrial sites, park and recreational facilities, and they promote tourism. The ports of Tacoma and Seattle located in the state of Washington form the third largest load center for containerized cargo in the United States, which makes them easy targets for terrorist attacks. It is imperative that the state of Washington passes a bill improving port security because it will protect the nation’s economy and limit the amount of illegal aliens coming into our nation.

The primary reason it is necessary to improve Homeland Security is to protect the nations economy. Washington is the most trade dependent state in the nation and the ports are critical to Washington’s economy. Our ports are built around economic efficiency. 1.8 million containers pass through our region each year, providing good paying jobs for thousands of families near the Puget Sound. The United States puts in 750 billion dollars worth of cargo at 360 seaports each year, which is one fifth of our national economy. An attack on one of our ports would have a dramatic impact on our entire economy. My fellow senator, Patty Murray, agrees “ports create jobs and drive economic growth for the entire Northwest”. If there was an attack through our ports it would put people out of work and all of the time and money dedicated to our ports would be put to waste in addition to whatever the attacks purpose could be.

In addition to protecting our nation’s economy, a bill improving homeland security would also limit the amount of illegal aliens coming into our country. In April of 2006, 22 Chinese nationals hid in a cargo container and traveled to the port in Seattle. It was not until the Chinese men had already left the containers that they were found. This is proof of how easily immigrants are able to come into our country through our ports. Over 200 million illegal immigrants have entered our country illegally. This has cost our country six billion dollars in health care. 39,000 Chinese immigrants remain in Washington and many of them have gotten away with this by getting by poor port security. While trying to save money by not spending it on security, we have lost more money and brought illegal aliens and diseases into our country.

Despite the need to improve the security in our nation’s ports, doing everything we would like to is simply unrealistic. Homeland Security Department officer, Kevin McCabe, explains that if we were to open every container, shipments would back up