WASHINGTON - July 2 - As the deadline for U.S. ships and ports to be in compliance with international security standards arrives this week, a GAO report finds that the Bush administration is not only ill-prepared for this week’s deadline, but is also ignoring Coast Guard estimates on the cost of port security. By allocating a fraction of what will be needed to protect America’s port towards proper security, and leaving many ports un-inspected by security officials, the administration is leaving the country open to possible attack.

Once again, the Bush administration is using “Homeland Security” merely as an election-year soundbite to frighten opponents and silence criticism, not a true budgetary priority, misleading the American public.

Two weeks ago, Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge said that U.S. ports and ships were in “full compliance” with international security requirements that go into effect today.[1] A new report[2] by the non-partisan General Accounting Office (GAO) reveals that Ridge was mistaken.

According to the GAO, around seven percent of all U.S. ports and half of all ships have not even been reviewed by the federal government. The administration allowed industry groups to “self-certify to the Coast Guard that they were using appropriate standards.” But every security plan the Coast Guard did review “had deficiencies.” A GAO spokesman said he believed the plans that weren’t reviewed by the Coast Guard were also flawed.[3]

The failure to secure U.S. ports puts America at risk. But despite the Coast Guard’s estimate that it will take $7.5 billion over 10 years to secure ports from terrorist attacks, the Bush administration has requested just $46 million in funding for that purpose in 2005.[4]

For full citations and links to the cited documents, visit: http://www.misleader.org/

[1] Ridge: Seaports, ships meet security rules, CNN.com, 6/21/04

[2] Substantial Work Remains to Translate New Planning Requirements into Effective Port Security, GAO, 7/1/04

[3] Report: Ports, ships not in 'full compliance', CNN.com, 6/29/04

[4] Lack of funding slows port security measures, Boston Globe, 6/30/04

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