AMENDMENT NO. 10 OFFERED BY MR. NADLER
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment No. 10 offered by Mr. Nadler:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following:
SEC. __. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO ENTRY OF OCEAN SHIPPING CONTAINERS INTO THE UNITED STATES.
(a) Requirements.--Section 70116 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(c) Requirements Relating to Entry of Ocean Shipping Containers.--
``(1) IN GENERAL.--An ocean shipping container may enter the United States, either directly or via a foreign port, only if--
``(A) the container is scanned with equipment that meets the standards established pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) and a copy of the scan is provided to the Secretary, and
``(B) the container is secured with a seal that meets the standards established pursuant to paragraph (2)(B), before the container is loaded on the vessel for shipment to the United States.
``(2) STANDARDS FOR SCANNING EQUIPMENT AND SEALS.--
``(A) SCANNING EQUIPMENT.--The Secretary shall establish standards for scanning equipment required to be used under paragraph (1)(A) to ensure that such equipment uses the best-available technology, including technology to scan a container for radiation and density and, if appropriate, for atomic elements.
``(B) SEALS.--The Secretary shall establish standards for seals required to be used under paragraph (1)(B) to ensure that such seals use the best-available technology, including technology to--
``(i) detect any breach into a container;
``(ii) identify the time and place of such breach;
``(iii) notify the Secretary of such breach before the container enters the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States; and
``(iv) track the time and location of the container during transit to the United States, including by truck, rail, or vessel.
``(C) REVIEW AND REVISION.--The Secretary shall review and, if necessary, revise the standards established pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) not less than once every two years.
``(D) DEFINITION.--In subparagraph (B), the term `Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States' has the meaning given the term `Exclusive Economic Zone' in section 2101(10a) of this title.''.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out section 70116(c) of title 46, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this section, such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007 and each subsequent fiscal year.
(c) Regulations; Effective Date.--
(1) REGULATIONS.--
(A) INTERIM FINAL RULE.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue an interim final rule as a temporary regulation to implement section 70116(c) of title 46, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this section, not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, without regard to the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code.
(B) FINAL RULE.--The Secretary shall issue a final rule as a permanent regulation to implement section 70116(c) of title 46, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this section, not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code. The final rule issued pursuant to that rulemaking may supersede the interim final rule issued pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.--The requirements of section 70116(c) of title 46, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this section, apply with respect to any ocean shipping container entering the United States, either directly or via a foreign port, beginning one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.
The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentleman's point of order is reserved.
Pursuant to the order of the House of Wednesday, March 15, 2006, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment to attach to this bill, the Sail Only If Scanned Act, the SOS Act. This act was developed by me and Mr. Oberstar, with the support of Minority Leader Pelosi, to address the issue of shipping container security.
This amendment would require that every shipping container be scanned with the most modern technology and sealed with a tamper-proof seal before it is placed on a ship bound for the United States so that we can have absolute assurances that no nuclear weapons or radiological bombs are being brought into our ports.
Only 1 percent of the more than 11 million shipping containers destined for the United States are scanned before they are loaded on a ship overseas. This is unacceptable.
The United States cannot own or control the entire global trade network, but we can and should ensure the security of every single container destined for this country. The controversy over the proposed Dubai Ports World deal has woken up the American people and made them think about how critical our ports are for national security. But who owns the ports and who operates the ports, while important, is far less important than what comes into the ports.
Ninety-five percent of all of the 11 million, 40-foot boxes that come into our ports are uninspected, not scanned. Not scanned by x-rays, not examined for radioactivity before they get here. Any one of them could have an atomic bomb or radiological bomb. That is unacceptable.
If there is a bomb inside a container, it is too late to discover that in Newark or Miami or Los Angeles. Reading the manifest is not enough. Having shipments only from low-risk shippers is not enough, because any one container could have a catastrophic bomb inside it.
My amendment is quite simple. It would require that all containers must be scanned using the best available technology, including scanning for radiation and density before they are loaded on a ship bound for the United States.
The scans must be submitted to U.S. Government officials for review before the container is loaded, and the containers must be sealed with a device that indicates if the container is tampered with in transit, and automatically notifies U.S. officials of any breach before the containers come within a few hundred miles of the United States.
Steve Flynn of the Council of Foreign Relations and a port security expert wrote in the New York Times a few days ago: ``This is not a pie-in-the-sky idea. Since January 2005, every single container entering the truck gates of two of the world's busiest container terminals in Hong Kong has passed through scanning and radiation detection devices. Images of the containers' contents are then stored on computers so they can be scrutinized by American or other customs authorities almost in real-time. Customs inspectors can then issue orders not to load a container that worries them. The Department of Homeland Security has greeted this private sector initiative with only tepid interest.''
Mr. Chairman, we cannot simply stand by while the Bush administration twiddles its thumbs and fails to secure the movement of containers before they reach the United States. The terminal operations in Hong Kong prove we can scan 100 percent of the containers without disrupting the economy or the flow of goods. The cost to scan a container is $6.50.
The entire cost to amortize all of the equipment is $20 a container. Given that it costs $4,000 to ship a container across the Pacific if there is between 50 and $500,000 worth of merchandise in each container, a $20 cost is trivial.
Congress needs to make 100 percent scanning the policy of the United States. This amendment would do that. I realize, Mr. Chairman, this amendment may not be allowed under the rules of the House.
I fully expect the Republicans to raise a point of order against it. I would note, however, that the underlying bill includes a provision blocking the proposed takeover of U.S. terminals by Dubai Ports World. I support that provision.
But if we can include language on the Dubai deal in this bill, then certainly the Republican majority should allow us to include language that secures shipping containers and prevents atomic bombs from going off in port cities.
At the very least, they could easily waive the rule and allow a vote on this amendment. If they care more about these rules that they waive every day than they do about protecting the American public from nuclear bombs and shipping containers, I truly fear for our safety.
Mr. Chairman, I urge all my colleagues to support this amendment to attach the Sail Only if Scanned Act, the SOS Act, to this bill. The only way we will adequately protect our citizens is if the Republicans in Congress join with us to force the Bush administration to take seriously the issue of container security and make sure that every single container is scanned and sealed with a tamper-proof seal before being placed on a ship bound for the United States.
POINT OF ORDER
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation on an appropriation bill and therefore violates clause 2 of rule XXI.
The rule states in pertinent part: an amendment to a general appropriations bill shall not be in order if changing existing law. This amendment directly amends existing law.
The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. Foley). Does any Member wish to speak on the point of order?
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations raises a point of order that this legislates on an appropriations bill. And it might.
But I would challenge the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and the Republican majority, if you are going to insist on a technical interpretation of the rule on this amendment, I would challenge the Republicans to allow this bill to the floor for a vote or allow this bill as an amendment on some other bill. Because to fail to do that, to insist on a technical reading of this rule, and not allow this or something like it on the floor, is to jeopardize the lives of every single American for a trivial cost. And I urge that the Republicans allow, we have been trying some version of this for 3 years now. We have never been able to get a vote. But the safety of the American people is at risk if we allow 11 million shipping containers, 40-foot boxes into the ports of our country without scanning them, and knowing only what someone says is in them, not what is really in them.
The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Chair is prepared to rule on the point of order.
The Chair finds that this amendment directly does amend existing law. The amendment, therefore, constitutes legislation in violation of clause 2 of rule XXI.
The point of order is sustained and the amendment is not in order.