Allyson Schwartz Quotes

These funds will ensure that ports will be able to pay for adequate security measures to protect all Americans against terrorist attacks from our seaports.

We know that the most fundamental responsibility of our Federal Government is to ensure the safety of its people and to protect and ensure our National security. And clearly port security has been left in limbo.

We need to have a strong defense focused on areas that are in the greatest vulnerability. I have been very concerned about America's 361 seaports as a point in which terrorist activities and materials could be brought into the country.

Port Security is one of our weakest security links, and it must be one of our highest priorities.

I believe it is essential that we close the security gaps that put our nation at risk, and I will continue to fight for the funding that will secure high-risk targets, such as our ports and borders.

When approved, the SAFE Port Act will make progress toward protecting the physical infrastructure of our seaports as well as our national economy which is so clearly dependent on the commercial shipping business.

The Staten Island Ferry remains a potential terrorist target.

We have no more fundamental obligation in government than to ensure the safety of our citizens.

Each year over 2,500 commercial vessels enter the Port of Hampton Roads alone, so adequate funding for port security is a significant issue for those of us who live in Richmond and Hampton Roads.

Ports are the gaping hole in America's homeland security.

Over the last five years, the Administration and the majority in Congress have appropriated less than $900 million for port security grants - despite the Coast Guard's determination that $5.4 billion is needed over 10 years.

While port security remains one of our single greatest vulnerabilities, it makes little sense to give operational control of our ports to a foreign nation without first doing proper investigations.

It is no coincidence that our country has not been attacked since 9-11. Our initiatives to protect the homeland and aggressively take the fight to the terrorists have been factors in that success.

As one of the principal responsibilities of the government is to safeguard its citizens, it is entirely reasonable that it should look at what more might be done to improve security.

There are several very good websites which describe the details of preparedness planning for citizens.

In 2003, this House voted to kill a Democratic amendment to add $250 million for port security grants; then again, in 2005, against a Democratic proposal calling for an additional $400 million in funding for port security.

Congress has greatly tightened the loopholes terrorists can use to harm Americans. We need to do more. We need controls immediately on what forms of ID are adequate to board planes and enter secure sites.

The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act is an important authorization for our country and for our citizens, as we have seen so vividly in the last few weeks.

There are over 100 entities in the federal government that have something to do with homeland security.

In my home State of Texas, the Port of Houston operates as the United States' top port for foreign tonnage and our second largest for total tonnage, so I know how important this bill is for the protection of the American people.

The American people should be informed about what kind of capability terrorists have inside the United States. They should be informed of why we are not using information to do a more effective job of dealing with terrorists.

We all must recognize that homeland security funds should be allocated by threat and no other reason.

In a brave new world, a post-September 11 world, anyone is going to make certain mistakes. The mistakes that have been made on homeland security, on protecting our Nation from another terrorist attack, are mistakes of omission. We are simply not doing enough.

From protecting our natural resources to providing maritime security and national defense, the Coast Guard's duties are broad in scope, and the performance of those duties has never been more important.

More needs to be done to take the fight to the enemy and secure our borders against the terrorist threat. We need more protection on land, sea and air.