A bipartisan group of 47 US Congressmen and Congresswomen has sent a letter to Jeh Johnson, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, calling for greater allocation of manpower to US ports.
The signatories, all members of the House of Representatives, belong to the US House Ports Opportunity, Renewal, Trade, and Security (PORTS) Caucus and their letter expresses concern about the disproportionately small number of new officers assigned to seaports compared to the lion’s share deployed to areas of aviation security.
It cites 2015 figures showing that of 2,000 staff hired by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) fewer than 20 went to seaports.
The letter has been endorsed by the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), which has expressed concern about smuggling of nuclear materials through maritime ports. That particular subject gets its own focus this week with a joint committee hearing on the potential illicit movement of nuclear matter.
