WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee, released the following statement on today’s Seattle port fiasco:

“The scare at Seattle’s seaport reminds us again of the glaring loophole in our port security system.  Cargo on container ships bound for U.S. ports isn’t screened for nuclear bombs until it gets here – if this false alarm were a real nuclear bomb hidden in a container, federal officials wouldn’t have had the chance to evacuate the terminal, let alone all of Seattle.  On the heels of the recent RAND report which says that hundreds of thousands could be killed or injured by a nuclear bomb detonated at a major American port, the Bush Administration continues to do radiation scanning after cargo containers arrive in our ports.  At that point, if there’s a nuclear bomb inside, it’s too late.”