House Panel Rejects US-Bound Container Inspections
Headline and quotes from ABC News:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A House of Representatives committee on Wednesday rejected a Democratic proposal to require overseas inspection of all U.S.-bound marine containers but approved a plan for more screening in American ports and possibly abroad.
...
Democrats seized on the security issue after the Bush administration ran into a storm of controversy for its decision to approve a state-owned Dubai company's plan to manage six U.S. port terminals. The plan has since been aborted.
But Republicans counter that Democrats are making unworkable demands and bristle at insinuations that Republicans are the handmaidens of industries that oppose higher shipping costs.
...
The Republican-led panel rejected, on a mostly party-line vote of 16-18, a Markey amendment to require overseas inspection of all U.S.-bound cargo and tamper-proof seals. It was strongly opposed by the shipping industry.
From ThinkProgress.org:
Yesterday, committee chairman Peter King (R-NY) announced that he was caving to industry interests. His excuse was that Markey’s plan was “not realistic“:
There’s no sense putting something in the bill if it’s not realistic, if it’s not going to be implemented and can’t be done. We want a real bill, not a headline.
*sigh*
That's a spin the Republican party hasn't used in a while. You can't say that Democrats didn't try to beef up homeland security. What Democrats need to do now is put out press releases and do interviews saying that Republicans are against port security. They need to emphasize that we tried to enact a bill amendment to protect our ports, but Republicans refused to support it. By doing this, Dems will be able to cover their asses in the event something gets by our puny port package processors. Also, this can create an imporant election issue for November. Republicans would be unable to claim that Democrats are weak on homeland security.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A House of Representatives committee on Wednesday rejected a Democratic proposal to require overseas inspection of all U.S.-bound marine containers but approved a plan for more screening in American ports and possibly abroad.
...
Democrats seized on the security issue after the Bush administration ran into a storm of controversy for its decision to approve a state-owned Dubai company's plan to manage six U.S. port terminals. The plan has since been aborted.
But Republicans counter that Democrats are making unworkable demands and bristle at insinuations that Republicans are the handmaidens of industries that oppose higher shipping costs.
...
The Republican-led panel rejected, on a mostly party-line vote of 16-18, a Markey amendment to require overseas inspection of all U.S.-bound cargo and tamper-proof seals. It was strongly opposed by the shipping industry.
From ThinkProgress.org:
Yesterday, committee chairman Peter King (R-NY) announced that he was caving to industry interests. His excuse was that Markey’s plan was “not realistic“:
There’s no sense putting something in the bill if it’s not realistic, if it’s not going to be implemented and can’t be done. We want a real bill, not a headline.
*sigh*
That's a spin the Republican party hasn't used in a while. You can't say that Democrats didn't try to beef up homeland security. What Democrats need to do now is put out press releases and do interviews saying that Republicans are against port security. They need to emphasize that we tried to enact a bill amendment to protect our ports, but Republicans refused to support it. By doing this, Dems will be able to cover their asses in the event something gets by our puny port package processors. Also, this can create an imporant election issue for November. Republicans would be unable to claim that Democrats are weak on homeland security.