Cargo security

The Coast Guard authorization bill (H.R. 2443) has been approved by the House of Representatives and has been approved in a different form by the Senate. In a conference committee, which is designed to hash out differences in the two versions, lawmakers rejected a controversial provision that would have required Coast Guard representatives to review the security plans of all foreign vessels entering U.S. waters. (Under current law, the Coast Guard is required to review the security plans of domestic vessels.) At a hearing before the bill was passed, Coast Guard Commandant Thomas H. Collins contended that the agency does not have the money or personnel to complete the task, which would have required reviewing plans for more than 10,000 foreign vessels.