Remarks by Secretary Tom Ridge at the Port of Newark, New Jersey

Release Date: 06/12/03 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 12, 2003
* Remarks as Prepared *

Thank you.  I am pleased to be here at the Port of Newark.

As many of you know, the Department of Homeland Security stands just over four months into its mission:  To prevent terrorist attacks, to reduce our country's vulnerabilities and improve our ability to respond.

The Department of Homeland Security has made significant progress in a number of areas during these first four months.

Smart borders to protect our shores and waterways, tough international container standards, highly trained screeners at our airports, intensive measures to protect our physical and cyber infrastructures, an early warning network of sensors to detect a biological attack, resources to prepare our public health systems in the event of an attack, and also, to date, more than $4 billion in funding distributed to our nation's first responders to help them train and ready for any threat, whether a force of nature or a force of evil.

The protection of our ports -- and the thousands of cargo containers that flow through them each day -- is a critical focus area of homeland security.  

That's why, from the sea-faring borders of our homeland...to the innermost quarters of our heartland, we're doing everything possible, using every means possible, to ensure that the facilitation of trade moves ever forward...with no disruption and no danger to our economy, our people and our way of life.

And so today, I'm pleased to announce a series of new port security initiatives and investments designed to strengthen port protections through increased international cooperation, new technology and the necessary funding needed to meet these new security enhancements...at strategic ports located around the world.

Let me be clear:  Today, some 20 months following America's dark September morning, we are not only a stronger nation but also a more secure nation.  

We are more secure because we are more aware of the threat of terrorism -- and more vigilant about confronting it.  We are more secure because we share more information with the people who need it, including our state and local partners and the private sector.  We are more secure because we have dedicated an unprecedented amount of resources, intelligence, equipment, technology and training to our dedicated professionals "on the ground."  And to do so, we must remember keeping our country ever safe requires, that we also keep our security measures ever fluid.  

That means security measures must be open to improvement and innovation at every level.  And that's what these new security protections are designed to do.

The Container Security Initiative, Operation Safe Commerce, the Maritime Transportation Security Act and new Port Security Grants all provide added layers of security that build on a comprehensive port security.  These layers - greater information sharing with our international partners; increased  levels of inspection; state-of-the-art technology and added intelligence on the crews, cargo and vessels long before they reach our shores - are allowing us to screen and board 100 percent of high-risk vessels coming into our ports.

Let me begin this morning by announcing the most significant piece of these new security measures.

And that's the launch of Phase 2 of the Container Security Initiative, also known as CSI, a historic measure spearheaded by the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.

Proposed by Commissioner Bonner in the aftermath of September 11th, CSI was designed to better protect our homeland, our people, our seaports, and, indeed, the world economy, against the threat of international terrorism.  In other words, it's about ensuring the safety of our cargo for the people who transmit it, inspect it, receive it, open it...and, ultimately, as it reaches down to individual citizens, the people that use it.

The four core elements of CSI are:

• First, identifying "high-risk" containers, through the use of advance information, before they are loaded onto board vessels destined for America. This cargo includes containers that may conceal - based on intelligence and risk-targeting principles - terrorist weapons...or even terrorists.
• Second, pre-screening the "high-risk" containers at the foreign CSI port before they are shipped to the United States.
• Third, using detection technology to pre-screen high-risk containers, including both radiation detectors and large-scale x-ray-type imaging equipment, so that the security inspection can be done quickly without slowing down the flow of legitimate cargo.
• and fourth, using smarter, "tamper-evident" containers - containers at the port of arrival that indicate to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers whether cargo has been tampered with after security screening overseas.

I also want to note that CSI involves stationing U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at foreign seaports to do the actual targeting and identification of high-risk containers.  

Additionally, to be eligible for CSI, ports must meet the minimum standards for the program.  That is, they have to have the detection equipment, the capacity and the will to implement CSI with us.

The basic premise behind each of these elements is clear:  We extend our zone of security outward, so that American seaports and borders become the last line of defense, not the first. We can't afford to focus exclusively on domestic ports.  

We identify and screen high-risk cargo containers at foreign ports before they set sail for the United States so that they don't endanger the American people.  Ultimately, we prevent terrorist threats before they become a reality.

Bottom line:  Identifying and dealing with high-risk containers at the earliest possible point protects the entire international supply chain and all the world's major seaports.

Currently, about 90 percent of all world cargo moves by container. In the United States alone, almost half of incoming trade (by value) arrives by containers aboard container ships. That means that almost 7 million cargo containers arrive and are offloaded at U.S. seaports each year.

Other countries are even more dependent on sea container traffic. The fact is, all trading nations depend on containerized shipping.  

CSI is a bold and necessary step towards eliminating that vulnerability.

It provides increased security for international trading lanes, without stifling the flow of global trade.

In its first phase, which focused on implementing the program at the top 20 foreign ports, CSI has emerged as a formidable tool for protecting America from the threat of terrorism.

Today, the top 20 ports account for 68 percent of all cargo containers arriving at U.S. seaports.  Most of these ports, in terms of volume of cargo shipped to our country, already have agreed to join CSI and are at various stages of implementation. This includes an agreement with the government of Thailand, that I signed with Thailand's Foreign Minister just yesterday. And with the signing of that agreement, Phase 1 is now virtually complete.

In fact, CSI is now operational at 13 ports worldwide. And soon, CSI will become operational at the remaining ports of this original agreement, all twenty of them.

Now, as we launch Phase 2 of this program, CSI will expand to strategic locations beyond the top 20 foreign ports to include areas of the Middle East such as Dubai...as well as Turkey and Malaysia. We're also coordinating agreements with Sri Lanka, key ports in Africa, ports in Latin America, and other major ports in Asia and Europe.

And let me emphasize, Phase 2 of CSI is not merely a sequel - it's a strengthening.

Ultimately, it will enable us to extend port security protection from 68 percent of container traffic to more than 80 percent -- casting the safety net of CSI far and wide.  

Let me also briefly mention that CSI will be bolstered by a significant level of program and funding support.  

One such initiative is called Operation Safe Commerce.  Safe Commerce is a pilot program, designed in conjunction with the Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.  Functioning much like a venture capital fund, the program will prompt private businesses; ports; and federal, state and local authorities to develop new technologies that can monitor the movement and integrity of containers as they move through the supply chain.  

This is an exciting and historic time for research and development.  Emerging technologies are quickly becoming the new Swiss Army knives of homeland security -- helping us meet security needs of virtually every possible kind.  

So, in essence, we'll be using these new tools of our trade to make improvements with the greatest level of speed, scope and accuracy...wherever and however these new functions can apply.

We know that true maritime security demands that government and industry work together -- which is why we are continually collaborating with industry, states, and local authorities to secure our ports and waterways.  

With that in mind, I'm pleased to report that, in the next few weeks -- July 1st to be exact -- the Coast Guard will implement major parts of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002.  

This is a sweeping piece of legislation aimed at protecting our ports and waterways from a terrorist attack, but also designed to equip the country to respond to an attack, should one occur.  

For our part, the Department of Homeland Security will be working diligently with port authorities and the private sector to implement this act.

Finally, today I'm particularly pleased to announce the release of $170 million in port security grants.  

This is in addition to the $75 million in port security grants already provided by the FY '03 supplemental budget - money which is already at work covering recent infrastructure security measures, training, exercises, information sharing and other protective measures. And later this Summer, we will obligate another round of $105 million in port security grants.  In total, this year, the Congress and the President will commit $350 million dollars for port security grants.  

Evaluated and selected by the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration, this latest round of funding has been awarded to 198 state and local governments as well as private companies...to help improve greater dockside and perimeter protections.  

As with everything we do at the Department of Homeland Security, we measure progress by outcomes, not just inputs.  And the outcomes of this grant money will be significant.  

These security dollars will translate into upgrades such as patrol boats in the harbor, communications tools for better intelligence gathering and coordination, surveillance equipment at roads and bridges, the construction of new command and control facilities and much, much more.

And so I end today as I began:  The port security measures we are putting in place, both here at home and abroad, are about building on our capabilities -- strengthening a vitally important system with additional layers of defense:  information sharing, inspections, presence, technology, funding and, of course, vigilance at every turn...at every port...every day.  

Let me be clear: This is not just a response to terrorism. We believe it's a deterrent.

Today we make that case to our enemies - clear and sure.  And as always, the Department of Homeland Security continues to make a commitment to you -- that we will rise to a new level of readiness each and every day.  

We will continue to build a nation where terrorism, in any form, posed by any group, can never find sanctuary on American soil.  And we will prevail.  

Thank you.

This page was last modified on 06/12/03 00:00:00