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From Marine Log:
Eleven years after initiation, DHS has not demonstrated how, if at all, TWIC will improve maritime security. A GAO review of a pilot test on the program conducted by TSA found that the test’s results were incomplete, inaccurate, and unreliable for informing Congress and for developing a regulation (rule) about the biometric [...]  Failure of the U.S. Congress to pass a farm bill during the last legislative session and apparent apathy from leaders in the House of Representatives to take up the issue anytime soon creates an air of uncertainty and skepticism from farmers and the agricultural industry, according to an agriculture economics professor at Texas Tech University [...] Published Friday at Politico: House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas said Thursday that he had been assured by Speaker John Boehner that the farm bill remains part of the year-end “big picture” for Republicans and the promise of $35 billion in 10-year savings “has gotten somebody’s attention.” The Oklahoma Republican underscored that the fate of [...] Obama has trumpeted his infrastructure spending, including about $48 billion within the stimulus package, but has balked at raising the fuel tax. There is little indication that Obama would change his position and secure a new revenue source for infrastructure funding. His proposal to use funding dollars, freed up through the ending of wars in [...] Congress could delay passage of a new five-year farm bill until spring planting given the full plate of legislation needed after the election to avoid a fiscal cliff with its mandatory U.S. budget cuts, a top farm policy expert said on Monday. The Democrat-controlled Senate passed its version of the bill in June, which would [...] Iran’s civilian population is already reeling from sanctions that, according to the United Nations, are cutting access to medicine and humanitarian goods. But today, Maersk Line, the world’s largest shipping container company, announced it will end port service in Iran. In Maersk’s statement, they declared that their cargoes had been limited to goods for the [...] The Obama administration on Friday made $473 million in funding originally allocated to earmark projects available to states. The money was set aside for appropriations between fiscal 2003 and 2006, but the dollars weren’t spent because of Obama’s and Congress’s ban on earmarks. States must identify by Oct. 1 the projects — which can range [...] From World Cargo News:
‘We strongly encourage Congress to stop throwing money at ineffective programs,’ said ILWU Legislative Director Lindsay McLaughlin. ‘A wiser approach to port security would be to invest these federal dollars into Customs, the Coast Guard and other federal agencies to implement container security and intelligence programs rather than spending billions [...]
Port of Prince Rupert A commissioner with a U.S. agency probing whether Canadian ports on the West Coast are luring lucrative cargo business away from their American counterparts says the problem may be minimal. The Canadian government and other officials have told the Federal Maritime Commission that over a period of 10 years, only 2.5 [...]
Container scan Shippers on Wednesday failed to convince members of Congress to scrap legislation requiring all containers be scanned overseas before being allowed into U.S. ports. The “scan all” requirement is set to take effect next month despite the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, along with major shippers, repeatedly telling Congress that [...] Any new federal surface transportation bill that emerges from the committee of lawmakers conferencing on the measure should include provisions establishing a national policy for freight movement, a group of organizations invested in the shipping and retail industries said Thursday. The Freight Stakeholders Coalition, which was form to press lawmakers to consider freight issues in [...] Politico, a major blog about Capitol Hill, took notice of the Panama Canal expansion and published this post this week: The promise of a Panama Canal expansion has spurred a flurry of legislative pleas and proposals. Too bad it’s largely hype. Improvements completed on the canal by 2014 will allow ships twice as big to [...] Use of electronic readers to verify valid Transportation Worker Identification Credentials at ports is more than 2 years away, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft said March 26. Zukunft, who spoke at a joint hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure and House Oversight and Government Reform committees, said the Homeland Security Department is working [...] Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a group of business and labor leaders released a letter [last week] urging Congress’ L.A. delegation to help pass a transportation measure they say will create jobs and further the region’s aggressive rail expansion. The U.S. Senate recently approved a two-year, $109-billion version of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill that would [...] In 2006, Congress approved the Safe Port Act – requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to draft guidelines for federal, state and local law enforcement related to cross-border trucking and that department’s jurisdiction “no later than April 2008.” Nearly four years later, the cross-border guidelines have yet to be presented. U.S. Rep. Peter King, [...] |
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