mr. chairman , i yield myself 2 1/2 minutes . 
mr. chairman , earlier this year i introduced the reducing crime and terrorism at america 's seaports act of 2005 along with my colleague the gentleman from north carolina ( mr. coble ) xz4000760 , chairman of the committee on the judiciary subcommittee on crime , terrorism , and homeland security . 
our legislation is aimed at filling a gaping hole in our defense against terrorism and making america 's ports , passengers and cargos safer . 
today , i offer the text of this important legislation as an amendment to the patriot reauthorization bill , joined by my colleague the gentleman from north carolina ( chairman coble ) of the committee on the judiciary , as well as the gentleman from virginia ( mr. forbes ) xz4001370 , another colleague on the committee on the judiciary . 
there are 361 seaports in the united states that serve essential national interests by facilitating the flow of trade and the movement of cruise passengers , as well as supporting the effective and safe deployment of u.s. armed forces . 
these seaport facilities and other marine areas cover some 3.5 million square miles of ocean area and 95 , 000 miles of coastline . 
millions of shipping containers pass through our ports each month . 
a single container has room for as much as 60 , 000 pounds of explosives , 10 to 15 times the amount in the ryder truck used to blow up the murrah federal building in oklahoma city . 
when you consider that a single ship can carry as many as 8 , 000 containers at one time , the vulnerability of our seaports is alarming . 
many seaports are still protected by little more than a chain link fence and in far too many instances have no adequate safeguards to ensure that only authorized personnel can access sensitive areas of the port . 
if we allow this system to continue unchecked , it may be only a matter of time until terrorists attempt to deliver a weapon of mass destruction to our doorstep via truck , ship or cargo container . 
strengthening criminal penalties , as the gentleman from north carolina ( chairman coble ) and i proposed with our bill and in this amendment , is one way we can make our nation 's ports less vulnerable by filling this hole in our defense against terrorism and making america 's ports , passengers and cargo safer . 
this amendment makes common sense changes to our criminal laws to deter and prevent terrorist attacks on our ports , our sea vessels , and cracks down on the theft and smuggling of cargo . 
i want to be clear , our amendment is intended to go after terrorists , terrorist acts and other dangerous felons . 
there is no intention to reach accidents or other unintentional acts that might occur at seaports . 
a substantially similar bipartisan version of our legislation has already been reported favorably by the senate judiciary committee and is awaiting action by the full senate . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
