mr. chairman , i rise in strong support of the schiff-coble-forbes amendment to h.r. 3199 . 
i also want to thank the gentleman from north carolina ( mr. coble ) xz4000760 , the chairman of the subcommittee on crime , terrorism , and homeland security , as well as the gentleman from california ( mr. schiff ) xz4003610 , for their important work on this amendment . 
mr. chairman , the edge of my district is only minutes from the port of norfolk , one of the busiest international ports on the east coast of the united states . 
more than $ 37 billion worth of goods pass through norfolk every year to travel on to all of the lower 48 states . 
our nation 's seaports are the arteries that keep our nation 's economic heart beating . 
but , unfortunately , our ports remain an attractive target to terrorists and criminals . 
the interagency commission on crime and security in u.s. seaports concluded in their report that significant criminal activity is taking place at most of the 12 seaports surveyed by the commission . 
that activity included drug smuggling , alien smuggling , cargo theft , and export crime . 
that is why it is important that the house pass the schiff-coble-forbes amendment . 
this amendment sends a clear message to terrorists and criminals that we will defend our nation 's ports . 
this amendment says that there is no loophole or shortcoming in the law that you can hide behind that will allow you to harm our nation . 
many of my constituents are shocked to learn that it is not a crime for a vessel operator to refuse to stop when ordered to do so by the coast guard . 
if you have spent as much time on the waterways of our harbors as i have , you know there are often only seconds that separate a vessel occupied by terrorists and one of our commercial or naval vessels docked at a pier . 
you can not legally evade the police on our nation 's highways , and the same rule should apply to our nation 's waterways . 
while the coast guard has the authority to use whatever force is reasonably necessary to force a vessel to stop or be boarded , refusal to stop by itself is not currently a crime . 
that changes today with this amendment . 
the amendment we are offering today will further protect our seaports by prohibiting the use of dangerous weapons or explosives on a passenger vessel , prohibiting the transportation of dangerous materials and terrorists , and further increasing penalties for bribery affecting port security . 
mr. chairman , this amendment is vital to protecting our nation 's ports . 
i want to express my appreciation for this amendment , and i urge my colleagues to support the amendment . 
