Mr. Alexander did a great job of presenting a very real problem with port security, but he left some important details out. He concluded his report saying “It’s the port’s responsibility to know who to trust.” This statement is a little misleading. National security is not the responsibility of corporate America. Businesses are in business to make money. Forcing companies to rid the world of terrorism will simply shut them down. How much would it cost to properly inspect all 900,000 of those containers that come into the Houston port each day? It would cost so much that the prices of shipping would increase by several times, which would have a negative domino effect on the whole economy. The same problem also exists for paperwork and background checks. The only way to do a perfect background check would be if we had a National ID card. But as I’m sure we are all aware, that in of itself is a hotly debated issue, and it’s questionable that it would do more good than damage. These are all things that also need to be considered.
Andrew DavisClass of 2007