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American Morning
Interview of Robert Bray, Virginia Port Authority
Aired January 18, 2002 - 09:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn, once again, to the issue of port security. Last hour, the head of the U.S. Customs Service told us the nation's ports are vulnerable because incoming cargo, a lot of it, is never inspected. He's concerned weapons of mass destruction could be brought in, particularly in those cargo containers. The container ships bring hundreds of thousands of those into the United States every year.
There are also worries, though, that terrorists themselves could come in the same way. And in busy ports, like this one in Virginia, which is home to the Norfolk Naval Air Station, the Naval Base, the Port of Virginia. They handle both commercial and military traffic. It is arguably one of the busiest seaports in the world, and one of the biggest.
Robert Bray is the executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, he runs it all, and he joins us now on American Morning -- Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for being with us.
ROBERT BRAY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTORY, VIRGINIA PORT AUTHORITY: Thank you, good morning.
CAFFERTY: What have you done with that sprawling piece of responsibility that you have since 9-1-1 to improve security?
BRAY: Well, of course, we need to start off with the fact that all of our police officers here are sworn police officers with the same training that county and city officers get. So we're very proud of those men. They've done a great job for us.
One of the things we've instituted, of course, is to start a credentialing system which limits people to only areas of the facilities where they need to go.
CAFFERTY: What about ships that are coming -- approaching the port? Do you make any effort before they actually arrive in port to make sure that the cargo on them is safe, and if so, what?
BRAY: The way that system works, now, is when a ship leaves a foreign port, there's a cargo manifest goes up via satellite. Customs receives it, and lets us know the amount of cargo and what is supposed to come off here. So that's a little bit more controlled than, perhaps, most people know about.
CAFFERTY: Are you worried about the vulnerability of a port like the one you're in charge of?
BRAY: Well, you have to be, because, again, as you said at the outset, there are so many containers moving, and really and truly you just cannot open every one and inspect every piece cargo inside them, so yes, you have to be concerned.
CAFFERTY: Your neighbor there is the Norfolk Naval Base. What sort of cooperative efforts do you have with military security and police officials along with your own?
BRAY: Well, the Navy has been absolutely terrific, and as you say, that base is right behind me here in Norfolk. They have tugs on standby so that when the commercial ships go by the Naval base, those tugs come out to make certain the ship cannot turn into any of the Naval ships.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Let me ask you a hypothetical question. If you had an unlimited budget, and they said do whatever it takes to make the ports absolutely secure, what would you do? How do you make these things bulletproof, or can you?
BRAY: One of the things that we are doing is we are working with some companies now to see if there's a method of detecting whether or not there's a so-called "dirty bomb" in one of the containers. One of the more difficult things that all of us in America face is that some -- in many instances, the technology is simply not available to do what ought to be done.
CAFFERTY: What about this idea that was advanced by the Secretary of Commerce, earlier in this program, of putting people in foreign ports to inspect cargo before it's loaded onto the ships and leaves en route to the United States? How practical an idea is that, do you think?
BRAY: Well, it's a good -- it sounds like a good idea, with all due respect, I just don't think you can do it.
CAFFERTY: Why not?
BRAY: The size of the task is just too enormous. You just cannot imagine the different places the cargo comes from, and to have people that you can rely upon, stationed in all those areas is just, to me, impossible.
CAFFERTY: 350,000 of those containers came out of -- just out of Hong Kong alone in the first ten months of last year bound for the United States. So, it's a daunting task. What's the answer?
BRAY: I think one of the things we need to come back to is that most of these containers do come from people that are reliable. They come from major companies all over the world. That's the first thing. And the second thing is that we have got to find a way to more easily detect really what is in the container, and I'm talking about x-ray machines, and things of that nature. CAFFERTY: We're not there yet, though, are we?
BRAY: No sir, we not.
CAFFERTY: All right, Mr. Bray, we've got to leave it there. I appreciate your joining us this morning. You've got a big job, good luck with it.
BRAY: Thank you much.
CAFFERTY: Robert Bray is the executive director of the Virginia Port Authority.
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