Port Security

Murray's Work

Senator Murray has become the leading voice in Congress to improve port security through her position on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, where she helps write the budget for - and has oversight of - the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, the Customs Service, and other entities responsible for port security.

She is also the highest ranking Democrat on the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee where she writes the $60 billion bill that funds the Department of Transportation.

Cargo Security/Operation Safe Commerce

The tragic events of September 11th have taught us we must do more to make our country safer, and to

Senator Murray Celebrates First Container Shipment Tracked by Operation Safe Commerce.

protect our lives and our liberty. An attack on one of our ports could have a dramatic impact on our economy.

Shortly after 9/11, Senator Murray wrote and helped fund an initiative she had been working on called “Operation Safe Commerce” (OSC). This program allows our nation's three largest load centers -- including Seattle and Tacoma -- to monitor and track cargo from the time the container is loaded through its entry into the U.S. and onto its final destination. Since the program’s creation, Congress has approved – and the President has signed – legislation providing $75 million for the program.

Unfortunately, in May 2003, the Bush Administration said it would “reprogram” $28 million from Operation Safe Commerce and spend it elsewhere. Senator Murray had no intention of allowing the Administration to divert critical funds for ensuring the security of our trade lanes in order to make up for their irresponsible spending in other areas.

In response, she wrote to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, protesting the Administration’s attempt to shortchange port security. Finally, Murray was forced to take the extraordinary step of placing a “hold” on an Administration budget nominee.

On June 11, 2003, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge sent Senator Murray a letter saying “the Department of Homeland Security will obligate, in the near future, the entire $58 million in appropriated funds for the ‘Operation Safe Commerce’ port security initiative.”

Then, in fiscal year 2004, Senator Murray secured $17 million more to expand Operation Safe Commerce testing and work toward establishing a true cargo-security standard for all cargo entering the United States.

Today, in the only end-to-end supply chain/cargo security test in the world, Operation Safe Commerce is running eighteen (18) separate cargo supply-chains through the Ports of Seattle, Tacoma, Los Angeles, Long Beach and New York/New Jersey.

"Operation Safe Commerce," includes:

Secure packing requirements for loading containers;
Auditable security standards at docks, manufacturing plants or shipping facilities;
Mechanical and/or electronic seals and devices intended to identify containers whose security has been compromised;

Senator Murray is holding a "smart seal." This high-tech device is attached to a cargo container when it is loaded in Hong Kong or Singapore. The seal continuously relays the container's position to officials and alerts them if anyone tries to tamper with the cargo while it's in transit.
Integrated communications systems to track cargo throughout the entirety of its journey;
The transmission of tracking data in accessible format;
Demonstration of "secure trading lanes" that ensures container security from point of origin to point of destination; and
Establishing new requirements for all participants in the supply chain that will allow federal agencies to get information to appropriately target suspicious cargo (FY 2002 Supplemental - For Further Recovery From & Response to Terrorist Attacks & the FY 2003 Transportation Appropriations Bill).

With over 6 million cargo containers entering U.S. ports each year, we can’t physically check them all, without impeding commerce. OSC is laying the foundation for a new national port security regime that is both secure and efficient, and Senator Murray is proud that the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma – having received more than half of the funding available under OSC to date – are paving the way.

Senator Murray will continue working to ensure that uniform cargo security standards are developed and implemented allowing us to have confidence in the supply chains that carry shipments to our communities from overseas.

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Murray has also secured funding for:

$47 million for the Container Security Initiative:

Money for the 20 largest seaports in the U.S., including Ports of Tacoma and Seattle, and 3 in Canada to help them better monitor suspicious cargo, and urges technological solutions to our security problem (FY 2002 Supplemental - For Further Recovery From & Response to Terrorist Attacks; FY03 Treasury and General Government Appropriations Bill for the Container Security Initiative).

Incident Training:

$2.4 million to enhance the Coast Guard's Strike Teams - Strike Teams respond to chemical and biological incidents (FY 2002 Supplemental - within the Defense FY 2002 Bill).

$20 million for incident training for ports: Training and exercising for port security personnel (FY 2002 Supplemental - For Further Recovery From & Response To Terrorist Attacks).

Response Equipment:

$12 million for Homeland Security Response Boats: This money is projected to purchase 6-8 87-foot boats, 2 of which are bound for Puget Sound (Bremerton and Port Angeles). (FY 2003 Transportation Appropriations Bill).

Communications Equipment:

$6 million for the following equipment:

Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)
Defense Message System Implementation
Commercial Satellite Communications
(FY 2002 Transportation Appropriations Bill).

$18 million for various communications projects that will help enhance port security (FY 2002 Supplemental - For Further Recovery From & Response to Terrorist Attacks).

Information Management:

$9.4 million for "Maritime Domain Awareness Information Management (FY 2002 Supplemental - For Further Recovery From & Response to Terrorist Attacks).

Security Assessments and Enhancements:

$343.3 million in port security grants (FY 2002 Supplemental - within Department of Defense FY2002 Bill; FY2002 Supplemental - For Further Recovery From & Response To Terrorist Attacks; FY 2003 Senate Transportation Appropriations Bill).

Operating Expenses:

$41.3 for anti-terrorism activities: Includes funding for 348 full-time permanent positions to four Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSST). The first one will be commissioned in Puget Sound on June 3, 2002 (FY 2002 Supplemental - within the Department of Defense FY 2002 Bill).

$129 million above administration's request for Coast Guard operating expenses: provided to expedite port vulnerability assessments, among other things (FY 2002 Supplemental - For Further Recovery From & Response to Terrorist Attacks).