mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
i would like to respond to the gentleman from virginia ( mr. scott ) xz4003641 . 
i appreciate his comments . 
the mandatory minimums in this amendment do not apply to threats or conspiracies . 
a person found guilty of a threat or conspiracy could face a sentence up to 20 years . 
a 30-year mandatory sentence is required for someone who attacks a train carrying nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste . 
quite frankly , i think that is extremely appropriate and severe , and what we are trying to do here is create these statutes as a deterrent . 
certainly i agree we need to put money into port security around the nation , and we are doing that ; but we need to go at this problem of terrorism with a full frontal attack . 
i would like to say when we considered this , this amendment has been around for about a year . 
we considered it last year and the gentleman from virginia ( mr. scott ) xz4003641 asked that we consider it in the patriot act and that is what we are dealing with today . 
so i think it is appropriate . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
