Posted on 03/31/2003 8:53:03 AM PST by JohnHuang2
By Kathy A. Gambrell
WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush on Monday will rally U.S. Coast Guard officers at the Port of Philadelphia on homeland security and where he plans to urge Capital Hill lawmakers to approve his $74.7 billion war budget.
Bush is set to arrive at the Port of the Philadelphia, one the busiest shipping ports on the Atlantic Coast with some 3,000 ships offloading cargo each year. The schedule calls for Bush to make remarks mid-afternoon as the nation remains on a "high" threat level. Bush has proposed $4 billion of the wartime supplemental appropriations request for homeland security.
The trip to Philadelphia is the second trip the president has taken outside the Washington area since the start of the war. Last week the president visited U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., where he vowed the United States would accept no outcome in the conflict except "complete and final success."
The Coast Guard, which became a part of the Department of Homeland Security this month, is an integral part of the president's Operation Liberty Shield, a national plan to increase security for the country's infrastructure and possible terrorist targets such as ships and ports.
Under Operation Liberty Shield, the Coast Guard and other agencies have stepped up border and transportation security with more patrols along ports and waterways, ferry and cruise ship escorts, and more armed sea marshals to watch and investigate what are considered to be "vessels of interest."
In the Persian Gulf, the Coast Guard cutter Wrangell escorted the first humanitarian aid shipment into the port of Umm Qasr last week. Coalition forces early last week struggled to secure Umm Qasr, the only seaport in southern Iraq.
The Bush White House has sought to reassure the American people that everything is being done to security the homeland from potential terrorist attacks as the Iraqi war continues. As the conflict began March 18, Islamic extremist groups vowed recriminations against Americans and U.S. interests abroad. That prompted the administration to raise the terror alert to its second-highest level.
Copyright © 2001-2003 United Press International
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.