Posted at 9:24 a.m., Thursday, April 12, 2007
Inouye told U.S. port security plan is behind schedule
By John Hughes
Bloomberg News Service
Workers may not start getting cards until May, instead of the original March 27 target, according to the Government Accountability Office. Kip Hawley, who leads the Transportation Security Administration, said the July deadline may be missed.
Port security "is still languishing," said Senator Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. "The administration is not taking its responsibility seriously enough."
The delay described today in Washington added to lawmakers' questions about whether the port security program will run as Congress intended. The government began trying to start it in December 2001 at a cost of $99.4 million so far.
Port workers are supposed to get criminal background checks and carry identification cards to enter secure areas. Workers would be denied cards because of terrorism ties, immigration status or past criminal offenses such as making bomb threats.
