Anti-Terrorism and Port Security Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-746
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2003-03-31 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Alien labor
Armed Forces and National Security
Arrest
Arson
Assault
Bombings
Business records
Canals
Capital punishment
Coast guard
Commerce
Common carriers
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Conspiracy
Containerization
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal justice information
Criminal negligence
Customs administration
Data banks
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Justice
Department of Transportation
Destruction of property
Driver licenses
EBB Terrorism
Electronic data interchange
Embezzlement
Emergency Management
Energy
Environmental Protection
Evidence (Law)
Explosives
Federal aid to transportation
Federal law enforcement officers
Federal-local relations
Federal-state relations
Finance and Financial Sector
Fines (Penalties)
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Fraud
Freight
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Harbors
Identification devices
Immigration
Informers
International Affairs
Labor and Employment
Larceny
Law
Liability for environmental damages
Licenses
Liens
Lighting
Maps
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine pollution
Marine safety
Marine terminals
Merchant seamen
Merchant ships
Motor vehicle registration
Nuclear fuels
Nuclear terrorism
Obstruction of justice
Oil pollution
Passenger ships
Prosecution
Radiation
Radioactive wastes
Receiving stolen goods
Rescue work
Sabotage
Science, Technology, Communications
Searches and seizures
Security measures
Sentences (Criminal procedure)
Sentencing guidelines
Ships
St. Lawrence Seaway
Standards
Territorial waters
Terrorism
Transportation of hazardous substances
U.S. Sentencing Commission
Violence
Waste disposal in the ocean
Weapons

Summary:
action_date: 2003-03-31
text: 
Anti-Terrorism and Port Security Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful to: (1) destroy or interfere with vessels or maritime facilities; (2) put devices in U.S. waters that can destroy a ship or cargo or interfere with safe navigation or maritime commerce; (3) use a dangerous weapon or explosive to try to kill someone on board a passenger vessel; (4) fail to heave to (that is, to slow or stop) a vessel at the direction of a Coast Guard or other authorized Federal law enforcement official seeking to board that vessel, or to interfere with boarding by such an officer; (5) destroy an aid to maritime navigation (such as a buoy or shoal/breakwater light) maintained by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation or the Coast Guard if this would endanger the safe navigation of a vessel; or (6) knowingly discharge or release oil, a hazardous substance, a noxious liquid substance or any other substance (malicious dumping) into U.S. navigable waters or the adjoining shoreline with intent to endanger human life, health, or welfare.
 
 Revises piracy and privateering laws, increasing penalties.
 
Requires the Attorney General to coordinate port-related crime data collection.
 
Designates the Captain-of-the-Port as the primary authority for seaport security at each port.
 
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to specify mandatory information in cargo manifests, which must be transmitted electronically. Establishes criminal penalties for violations of requirements, and increases civil penalties.
 
Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) develop a shipment profiling plan to track containers (including empty containers) and shipments of merchandise to be imported into the United States; (2) submit to Congress a plan for inspecting merchandise and their transportation containers at foreign facilities before importation into the United States; (3) issue final regulations prescribing seaport security requirements, including unauthorized gun and explosives prohibitions, access restrictions, and specifications for biometric (&quot;smart&quot;) identification cards for employees and other personnel; and (4) approve minimum standards for high security container seals meeting specified criteria, and award grants to developers of such seals.
 
Requires Captains-of-the-Port to secure and protect all sensitive information, including maps, blueprints, and information on the Internet.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-07-14
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8125)
action_date: 2003-03-31
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4572-4577)
action_date: 2003-03-31
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4570-4572)
action_date: 2003-03-31
text: Introduced in Senate