United States ports should have as much security as is practical

Democrats in Congress are calling for the inspection of all cargo containers shipped into the United States. That's a worthwhile standard, and Washington leaders should determine how close they can come to meeting it.

The state of U.S. port security is still poor. Approximately 9 million cargo containers -- each the size of the trailer on a tractor-trailer truck -- enter this country each year. Only 6 percent of them are inspected.

It is not fear-mongering to point out that any of these containers could easily house a dirty bomb or some other terrorism-related menace.

Personnel security at ports is also lacking.

The Bush administration announced this week it would start background checks of port workers, investigating to make sure they aren't on terrorist watch lists and are legal U.S. residents. But those background checks won't even examine the criminal histories of port workers.

It's been four years since Congress ordered the Transportation Security Administration to do background checks and issue identity cards to port workers. Those drives are just now starting.

Determining what can and should be done to improve port security requires cutting through thick partisan rhetoric. Democrats highlight concerns to undermine confidence in the administration. The White House issues assurances about security to build that confidence.

While the situation may not be as dire as Democrats claim, port security is certainly not as good as it could be. For instance, inspecting all 9 million containers may not be possible, but some improvement must be.

The Homeland Security Department claims it is equipping ports with detection equipment that will enable them to scan two-thirds of all containers for nuclear materials by the end of this year. It also states that 80 percent of the containers shipped into this country come from nations with rigorous inspection of outbound containers.

If so, this country should focus its inspections on the 20 percent that comes from nations without such good security.

Federal officials must better examine the entire security chain of container shipping, determine where the weaknesses are and address them.

It may not be practical to meet the standards congressional Democrats call for, but it should certainly be possible to improve port security beyond what we have and what seems to be planned.