Excerpts from the LA Daily News:
While praising efforts to protect the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports from terrorist and cyber attacks, members of Congress aired concerns Monday about threats to public safety and the economy if federal funding for maritime security programs isn’t raised to meet new threats.
At a rare on-site hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee at the Port of L.A., members of the panel and other Southern California representatives sounded generally pleased with what they heard. Officials from the two local ports, the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection and the longshore union testified about what has been done to protect the facilities in the wake of two security scares earlier this year.
Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Carson, whose district includes the Port of L.A., asked if CBP staffing was sufficient.
No, said Ray Familathe, vice president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, contending that having security scans unavailable on weekends leaves workers unable to process cargo.