Goal 2: Protect our Nation from Dangerous Goods

We have also made a lot of progress in protecting our nation from dangerous goods. Key accomplishments include:

Increased the Number of Containers Inspected Prior to Entering the United States: Almost seven million cargo containers arrive and are offloaded at U.S. seaports each year. CBP increased the percent of shipping containers processed through its Container Security Initiative prior to entering U.S. ports from 48 percent in FY 2004 to 82 percent in FY 2006. This significantly decreases the risk of terrorist materials entering our country while providing processes to facilitate the flow of safe and legitimate trade and travel from more foreign ports.

DHS Deployed Over 880 Radiation Portal Monitors at Land and Sea Ports: DHS deployed 283 new radiation portal monitors throughout the Nation's ports of entry, bringing the number of radiation portal monitors to 884 at the Nation's land and sea ports of entry. These additional RPMs allow us to inspect 90 percent of incoming cargo containers, an increase of approximately 30 percent from this time last year.

DNDO Awarded over $1 Billion for Next Generation Nuclear Detection Devices: DNDO announced the award of Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) program contracts totaling $1.15 billion to enhance the detection of radiological and nuclear materials at the Nation's ports of entry. ASP models were deployed to the Nevada Test Site, where they will be tested using nuclear threat material. Portals have also been delivered to the New York Container Terminal for data collection.

Secure Freight Initiative Launched to Begin Screening at Foreign Ports: DHS and the Department of Energy announced the first phase of the Secure Freight Initiative, an unprecedented effort to build upon existing port security measures by enhancing the federal government's ability to scan containers for nuclear and radiological materials overseas and to better assess the risk of inbound containers. The initial phase involves the deployment of a combination of existing technology and proven nuclear detection devices.

Protected Air Cargo: Recently published air cargo security rules help prevent the use of air cargo as a means of attacking aircraft. The rules mark the first substantial changes to air cargo regulations since 1999, and represent a joint government-industry vision of an enhanced security baseline. These new measures will be enforced by an expanded force of air cargo inspectors, who will be stationed at the 102 airports where 95 percent of domestic air cargo originates.

U.S. Coast Guard Set Records for Drug Seizures and Arrests: This year, counter-drug boardings from U.S. and Royal Navy vessels resulted in all-time records for seizures and arrests. The 93,209 pounds of drugs that were seized was more than the combined amount seized in the last two years.

The FY 2008 budget request includes funding to build on the accomplishments made in protecting our Nation from dangerous goods. Some examples include:

• Total funding of $178 million is requested for the procurement and deployment of radiation portal monitors, including next-generation Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) systems. Our goal is to screen almost 100 percent of arriving cargo at seaports by the end of this year, and nearly 100 percent at all of our ports of entry by the end of FY 2008.

• An increase of $15 million is requested for the Secure Freight Initiative that is designed to maximize radiological and nuclear screening of U.S. bound containers from foreign ports. Secure Freight includes a next generation risk assessment screening program and an overseas detection network, while merging existing and new information regarding containers transiting through the supply chain to assist customs and screening officials in making security and trade decisions.

• An increase of $47.4 million is requested for DNDO's "The Acceleration of Next-Generation Research and Development" program which will increase funding across multiple DNDO Research, Development, and Operations program areas. The largest increases will be for the Systems Development (including multiple variants of Advanced Spectroscopic Portal systems) and Transformational Research and Development program areas.