But it would appear that new costs and procedures at capital's end are arising from homeland security and the phony war against terrorism:
3. Senate conferees propose cargo fees for port security By April Fulton, CongressDaily Hoping to break the logjam in a House and Senate conference on seaport security, Senate aides are circulating a proposal to impose user fees on cargo coming into and out of U.S. ports to help pay for increased costs for security equipment and personnel that ports have faced since last Sept. 11. The draft, obtained by CongressDaily, has been informally shared with House Republican aides, who had objected earlier to a more comprehensive Senate proposal on grounds it would have amounted to a tax on shippers. Senate aides have requested a formal meeting with their House counterparts to discuss the offer and said they hope to resolve the matter soon, possibly even this week. The proposal would require the Transportation secretary to develop a user fee program within six months to generate at least 75 percent of the funds needed to improve port security, or implement the Senate proposal. The Senate proposal would charge fees based on the type of cargo being carried. Full story: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1002/100102cd2.htm CJ __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com
