DHS Secretary Johnson Plans to Reexamine 100% Screening Mandate
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and CBP in particular, should continue to target 100 percent screening of U.S. bound maritime cargo, but DHS still needs to weigh the financial and practical feasibility of that goal, said DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson during testimony at a Feb. 26 House Homeland Security Committee hearing. Made law in 2007, the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act requires scanning 100 percent of U.S.-bound cargo containers by 2012 (here). Former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano pushed back the deadline in the months leading up to 2012 (here). Johnson said he is reserving his right as DHS Secretary to temporarily waive the requirement.
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“That legal mandate is something that many members of Congress have talked to me about including in the Senate confirmation process. It was raised by a number of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle,” said Johnson. “In general, I believe that the department ought to comply with legal mandates. So if there’s some reason we can’t immediately and consistent with the law, we should at least have a plan for getting in there. I’m studying the issue very closely and I did that as recently as last week.”
The hearing focused largely on DHS and CBP border security capabilities, but Johnson said trade facilitation is a primary priority. Congress should approve and appropriate the necessary funds to build customs plazas at numerous border ports and regions in order to promote and expedite trade and increase customs enforcement, said Johnson. “In this job, as Secretary of Homeland Security, it has been made very clear to me that part of my mission is to facilitate and expedite trade, whether it’s on southwest border or the northern border,” said Johnson. “For example, the Canadians have talked to me about our bridge crossings in Michigan and the importance of … funding a customs plaza on the U.S. side in Michigan.”
The Customs Plaza Construction Act of 2014, introduced on Feb. 11 by Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich., would provide funding to construct the New International Trade Crossing at the U.S.-Canada border and other customs plazas at U.S. ports of entry (see 14021301).