House Members Pledge to Boost Security at Port Complex

Two members of Congress who toured the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex say its antiterror efforts are adequate but that new security measures, potentially costing hundreds of millions of dollars, will be needed in the next few years.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson) said they would press for federal money to boost safeguards at the adjacent Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors, which together constitute the nation’s busiest cargo seaport.

“You have my commitment,” Thompson told Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who accompanied the lawmakers on the tour Friday.

Thompson said that when Congress reconvenes in September, he would “make the argument that we should move the money where the risk and vulnerability is greatest.” Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors are at the top of his list, he added.

Millender-McDonald, whose district includes the two harbors, has introduced HR 478, proposing that the federal government spend $800 million annually for five years to beef up bomb-detection capability, container inspections, surveillance, fencing and other counterterrorism steps at ports across the nation. The bill is in committee.

Both representatives said the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports should get a share of the proposed funding proportionate to the combined amount of container cargo they handle, about 45% of the nation’s total.

Thompson said both ports had done a “wonderful job” of improving safeguards, such as installing radiation monitors and deploying explosive-sniffing dogs. But, he said, “the resources are not nearly what they should be.”

Port officials already have prepared a wish list of security projects that would cost at least $250 million, including a sophisticated container-inspection facility, surveillance cameras and better lighting.

The two ports are much safer than before the Sept. 11 attacks, Millender-McDonald said. “I’m comfortable with where we are now,” she said. “We can always improve on it. We’re not out of the water yet.”