Pelosi: Agreement on Cargo Screening Addresses Major Security Vulnerability

'Today's decision by the conferees on the 9/11 bill to adopt a requirement for 100 percent screening of maritime cargo containers before they reach the United States addresses a major security vulnerability and will make the American people safer from terrorist attacks.

'If a terrorist manages to conceal a weapon of mass destruction in a shipping container, it must be discovered long before that container reaches our shores.  Requiring container screening to be done overseas is the best way to ensure that one of these weapons is never detonated in our ports or along the transportation lines connecting our ports to every region of our nation.

'Prompt completion of the 9/11 conference and the President's signature on the bill will improve America's security.  By agreeing to include the 100 percent cargo screening requirement in the conference report, the conferees have taken a major step toward achieving that goal.'