Democratic senators hammered a senior Homeland Security official Tuesday, saying his budget for next year did not set aside enough money to toughen security at the nation’s ports, which are seen by many experts as the United States’ Achilles’ heel. “We have veritably no security whatever,” Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, D-S.C., told Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for borders and transportation in the new department, at a meeting of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. More than 5.5 million containers pass through the nations 361 ports every year, and customs officials physically inspect only 2 percent of them. A U.S. Coast Guard study last year estimated that it would cost a total of $6 billion over 10 years — $1.4 billion immediately — to make the ports secure against terrorist attack. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.