SAFE Port Act

Law regulating port security and online gambling

(colloquial)SPANicknamesSecurity and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006Enacted bythe 109th United States CongressEffectiveOctober 13, 2006CitationsPublic law109-347Statutes at Large120 Stat. 1884CodificationTitles amended

U.S.C. sections created6 U.S.C. ch. 3 § 901 et seq.U.S.C. sections amended46 U.S.C. ch. 701, subch. I § 70101 et seq.Legislative history

Introduced in the House as H.R. 4954 by Dan Lungren (R-CA) on March 14, 2006
Committee consideration by House Homeland Security, House Transportation and Infrastructure
Passed the House on May 4, 2006 (421-2 Roll call vote 127, via Clerk.House.gov)
Passed the Senate on September 14, 2006 (98-0 Roll call vote 249, via Senate.gov)
Reported by the joint conference committee on September 29, 2006; agreed to by the House on September 30, 2006 (409-2 Roll call vote 516, via Clerk.House.gov) and by the Senate on September 30, 2006 (Agreed unanimous onsent)
Signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 13, 2006

The Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 (or SAFE Port Act, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 109–347 (text) (PDF)^[1]) was an Act of Congress in the United States covering port security and to which an online gambling measure was added at the last moment. The House and Senate passed the conference report on September 30, 2006, and President Bush signed the Act into law on October 13, 2006.^[2]^[3]

Port security provisions

The port security provisions were one of 20 bills introduced to Congress in the wake of the Dubai Ports World controversy that aimed to block Dubai Ports World acquiring P&O Ports, and more generally to stop key US ports falling into the hands of foreign owners by changing the Exon–Florio Amendment.^[4] The act codified into law a number of programs to improve security of U.S. ports, such as:

Additional requirements for maritime facilities
Creation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Establishment of Interagency Operations Centers for port security
Port Security Grant Program
Container Security Initiative
Foreign port assessments
Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism

In addition, the Act created the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office within the Department of Homeland Security and appropriated funds toward the Integrated Deepwater System Program, a long-term U.S. Coast Guard modernization program.^[5]

Internet gambling provisions

Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (or UIGEA). This title (found at 31 U.S.C. §§ 5361–5367) "prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law."^[6] The Economist noted that the UIGEA provisions were "hastily tacked onto the end of unrelated legislation".^[7]

References

^ Text of the SAFE Port Act, via House.gov
^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "George W. Bush: "Remarks on Signing the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006," October 13, 2006". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "George W. Bush: "Statement on Signing the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006," October 13, 2006". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
^ Edward Montgomery Graham, David Matthew Marchick (2006). US national security and foreign direct investment. Peterson Institute. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-88132-391-7.
^ Congressional Budget Office analysis of H.R. 4954, prepared April 28, 2006
^ "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act" (PDF). Examination Handbook Section 770. U.S. Treasury Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2010. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
^ "Poker face off". The Economist. April 23, 2011. p. 68.