S. HRG. 107–785 PASSAGE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF S. 1214, THE PORT AND MARITIME SECURITY ACT FIELD HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION FEBRUARY 19, 2002 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 83–182 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Apr 24 2002 09:50 Nov 06, 2003 Jkt 083182 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83182.TXT SCOM2 PsN: JACKF SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina, Chairman DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia TED STEVENS, Alaska JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts CONRAD BURNS, Montana JOHN B. BREAUX, Louisiana TRENT LOTT, Mississippi BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas RON WYDEN, Oregon OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine MAX CLELAND, Georgia SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON SMITH, Oregon JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada BILL NELSON, Florida GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia KEVIN D. KAYES, Democratic Staff Director MOSES BOYD, Democratic Chief Counsel JEANNE BUMPUS, Republican Staff Director and General Counsel (II) VerDate Apr 24 2002 09:50 Nov 06, 2003 Jkt 083182 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83182.TXT SCOM2 PsN: JACKF C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on February 19, 2002 ....................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Breaux ................................................................................. 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 5 Statement of Senator Hollings ............................................................................... 1 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 2 WITNESSES Bonner, Hon. Robert C., Commissioner, United States Customs Service ........... 13 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 19 Brown, Douglas R., Ph.D., Vice President for Business Development and Programs, Ancore Corporation ............................................................................ 50 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 52 Burdette, Robert M., Town Administrator, Town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina ................................................................................................................ 37 Flynn, Stephen E., Ph.D., Senior Fellow, National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations ............................................................................................ 57 Groseclose, Jr., Bernard S., President and CEO, South Carolina State Port Authority ............................................................................................................... 34 Koch, Christopher L., President and CEO, World Shipping Council .................. 61 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 65 Loy, Hon. Admiral James M., Commandant, United States Coast Guard ......... 7 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 11 Riley, Jr., Hon. Joseph P., Mayor, City of Charleston, South Carolina .............. 29 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 31 Summey, Hon. R. Keith, Mayor, City of North Charleston, South Carolina ...... 32 Taylor, Major Alvin A., South Carolina Department of Natural Resources ....... 39 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 42 APPENDIX Lynch, Robin, President, Sea Containers America Inc., prepared statement .... 75 Cannon, Jr. Esq., J. Al, Sheriff, Charleston County, SC, letter dated February 6, 2002, to Hon. Ernest F. Hollings .................................................................... 78 (III) VerDate Apr 24 2002 09:50 Nov 06, 2003 Jkt 083182 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83182.TXT SCOM2 PsN: JACKF VerDate Apr 24 2002 09:50 Nov 06, 2003 Jkt 083182 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83182.TXT SCOM2 PsN: JACKF PASSAGE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF S. 1214, THE PORT AND MARITIME SECURITY ACT TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2002 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Charleston, SC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:30 p.m. at the Charleston Maritime Center, 10 Wharfside Street, Charleston, South Carolina, Hon. Ernest F. Hollings, Chairman of the Com- mittee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH CAROLINA The CHAIRMAN. This afternoon, my first urge in calling the Com- mittee to order is to thank a lot of folks. First, I want to thank our distinguished colleague, the Senator from Louisiana, John Breaux. He’s the Chairman of our Maritime Subcommittee and this is his fourth hearing in the field and following this problem right along and possibly more knowledgeable than most in the U.S. Senate. And we really are honored to have him with us. Let me thank Mr. Henry Brown. We invited our distinguished Congressman Henry Brown of this district to sit with us. Maybe he’ll be along momentarily. I am particularly pleased that we’ve got the Commandant of the Coast Guard with us, Admiral Loy, and the Commissioner of Customs, Mr. Bonner. They are very busy there in Washington, but to grace us with their presence has been already a tremendous help this morning. I thought this morning was frankly going to be a sort of idle tourism to point out this and point that out. And on the contrary, it was an eye opener for me to find out how well the Coast Guard is coordinated, how sophisticated Customs is. I think to this day, that is the best briefing that this particular Senator and Com- mittee has had in quite some time. Our Secretary of Transportation was to be with us, but he is just recovering from a hip operation and thought it best he stay back in Washington. But right to the point, Secretary Norman Mineta has already approved our Senate-passed home security bill which is now over in the House side. And they hope that they will deal with it as expeditiously as they can. Let me thank—I will emphasize that again, Commandant Merit, the Captain of the port, he is the No. 1 man in charge of security and I am glad of it because I can tell from his briefing this morning that he really is in charge. I have got to recognize Major General Seifert. He has been nominated by Governor Hodges in charge of (1) VerDate Apr 24 2002 09:50 Nov 06, 2003 Jkt 083182 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83182.TXT SCOM2 PsN: JACKF 2 homeland security and I want to thank him for attending this hearing. We want to acknowledge Mr. Robin Lynch, the President of Sea Containers America, Inc. I recognize Al Cannon, our Sheriff, who has been giving us security along with Reuben Greenberg, the Chief of the city police here. And I will include Mr. Lynch’s and Sheriff Cannon’s statements in the record [refer to Appendix] and also my own statement in the record. [The prepared statement of Senator Hollings follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH CAROLINA Today, we are gathered to take testimony on the challenges that we face as a na- tion in securing our seaports and maritime boundaries. In the aftermath of Sep- tember 11th, this is a daunting and difficult challenge. The protection of our mari- time boundaries poses unique challenges because of the breadth of our coastline, the proximity of the public to maritime businesses and endeavors, and the sheer volume of container cargo and shipments of bulk petroleum products and hazardous mate- rials. Literally, we have thousands of tons of hazardous cargoes, originating from foreign nations being transported by foreign vessels right through the heart of many U.S. cities. Additionally, the maritime trade is very open, and we do not have the best or most reliable information about shipments, vessels, or the crew members who man those vessels. It is, indeed, a difficult issue to address. Lloyd’s List International reported that a NATO country’s intelligence service has identified 20 merchant vessels believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden. Those ves- sels are now subject to seizure in ports all over the world. Some of the vessels are thought to be owned outright by bin Laden’s business interests, while others are on long-term charter. The Times of London reported that bin Laden used his ships to import into Kenya the explosives used to destroy the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Several weeks ago, a suspected member of the Al Qaeda terrorist network was arrested in Italy after he tried to stow-away in a shipping container heading to To- ronto. The container was furnished with a bed, a toilet, and its own power source to operate the heater and recharge batteries. According to the Toronto Sun, the man also had a global