Legislative Update: National Defense Authorization Act (FY 2010)

Cummings amendment to HR 2647 rejected, but new requirements proposed.

The recent DOD conference report did not adopt the Cummings Amendment, which would have required the Pentagon to deploy military personnel aboard U.S.-flagged vessels carrying government cargoes where risk of piracy is high, but instead imposes a report requirement on the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to get permissions for entry of U.S.-flag ships into key ports where the local port laws prohibit private security. This language recognizes the problem and puts the onus on the State and Defense departments to get the prompt permissions necessary. The language (see the clickable link in this paragraph) also advocates certain private security standards on which the Coast Guard is working on already.