There are more than 160 million people enrolled in managed care plans, an increase of 75 percent just since 1990. More physicians are forming their own health plans and working to find new ways to share risks and control costs. There is, however, and another responsibility. And that is that these new forms of care do not mean sub-standard care, that the bottom line of profits never eclipses the bottom line of good medicine.

So we all have to take more personal responsibility but we need a system that works to provide healthcare for everybody and we’re not going to get it unless we have presidential leadership and congressional leadership that stands up against the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies and says “we’re going to have a healthcare system that takes care of Americans not takes care of their bottom line.”

So starting in the 1930’s through the blood sweat and tears of a lot of people, the American labor movement came into its own. And the greatest period of prosperity after WWII into the 1970’s was a partnership between business and labor and government. That’s what worked. You know we had a government that was a good watchdog who put into place the rules and regulations to make sure that people were not taken advantage of. We had business leaders who understood that their obligation was not just to the bottom line but to their employees and the communities that they served and the country that made it possible for them to be successful. And we had a labor movement that fought for all these advancements in human dignity and opportunity.

have introduced legislation to ban companies owned by foreign governments from controlling operations at U.S. ports. Our ports are at the front lines of our homeland defense, and despite the administration's claims to the contrary, terminal operators play a key role.

Terminal operators develop port security plans that contain sensitive security information. They are responsible for securing the perimeter of the terminal and determining how drivers who move cargo to and from the port are identified. They conduct security training for dockworkers and communicate with federal authorities in the event of a security problem. The Dubai Ports World merger would put a company controlled by a foreign government in charge of these functions. And we just heard that the U.S. Coast Guard raised initial objections to this deal because of intelligence gaps.

Ironically, it is the Bush administration's failure to adequately secure our ports that has placed the terminal operators in such a key security role. Only 5% of containers that come through our ports are inspected, and security experts have long warned that federal resources for port security are woefully inadequate.

As a general matter, I would note that the Coast Guard’s July 1 interim rules on port security, for the most part, provide well-crafted, pragmatic and effective measures to deter terrorism and protect our ports and the nation at large. The Coast Guard deserves praise and applause for their leadership and vision in the challenging, yet critical area of port security. With that said, improvements and modifications can be made to several important parts of the regulations and we hope that the Coast Guard will revisit the issues raised today by transportation labor.

To ensure fully effective port security measures, we urge that the Coast Guard interim rules be revised to mandate those security initiatives that presently are only recommended for port facilities. Specifically, the interim rules should require, rather than just recommend, that 1) the maritime industry and port labor organizations be included as members of Area Maritime Security (AMS) Committees under § 103.305

The preamble to the rules on Area Maritime Security states that members of the AMS Committee “may include, but are not limited to, the following stakeholders: ...labor organizations, port managers, and vessel and facility owner/operator security representatives.” (68 Fed. Reg. 39286) While we would hope that the COTP in each port would include representatives from longshore and other transportation unions on their AMS Committee, given that the involvement of workers is absolutely critical to effective port security, we are urging that the regulations specifically mandate labor’s inclusion.

... we are urging that the Coast Guard modify its position and ensure that the final regulations more specifically mandate that longshore and other transportation unions serve as members of AMS committees. I know that my union, and other members of TTD, are eager and willing to lend their expertise to improving port security.