Democrats seek more money for port security

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Sens. Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, Charles Schumer of New York and Patty Murray of Washington said al-Qaida might be building a "dirty" bomb, which would spread radiation across a large area.

North Korea, which in recent months has restarted its nuclear weapons program, could send a weapon via sea, or terrorists could get a Korean weapon and slip it into the United States in a cargo container, the senators said.

Only about 2 percent of the 6 million shipping containers that enter the United States each year are checked because the government doesn't have enough inspectors and screening devices.

Osama bin Laden could slip weapons into this country in one of the 10 ships he owns, Hollings said.

Since 2001, the Bush administration has provided only about $350 million to increase port security, according to Hollings' office. Billions have been allocated to make airports safer.

"What we can't figure out is why this administration is being so penny-wise but pound-foolish about funding port security," Schumer said.

Hollings said he will once again lobby Congress to create a $700 million fund through fees on cargo and passengers so ports can hire more security officers. That proposal was part of the port-security bill Hollings and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., co-wrote last year. They withdrew it after House GOP members and industry officials objected.

The Port of Charleston, which upstate South Carolina depends on heavily, will receive $13 million this year. The BMW plant in Greer receives all its parts through the port.

A total of $9 million is for Project Seahawk, a central command center for security at the port, and $4 million will be used to deploy and test new security equipment such as giant X-ray cargo scanners and radiation detection devices.

Hollings included the money in the nearly $400 billion federal spending bill for this year, which became law late in February.

President Bush signed a port-security bill last year, but supporters were disappointed that it didn't provide money to hire additional Customs officers or buy sophisticated devices capable of scanning the inside of shipping containers. The measure did provide grants for security training and asked the U.S. Coast Guard to prepare a nationwide port security plan.

The Homeland Security Department and the Coast Guard could not be reached for comment. The White House referred calls to homeland security.