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Creating the Department of Homeland Security: Consideration of the Administration's Proposal
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Mr. Robert A. Bryden
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, My
name is Robert A. Bryden, Staff Vice President of Security for FedEx
Corporation, the parent corporation of FedEx Express.
It is an honor for me to address this
committee and speak about the very important topic of cargo security,
particularly the prevention of the importation of unauthorized radiological
materials into the United States.
As you know, for at least six months FedEx has been in close contact with
members of the staff of this committee on this subject.
We have had several meetings with
Ray Shepard and Chris Nauer, and have allowed them to tour our facilities at
Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris, and our National Hub at Indianapolis.
We have fully cooperated
with staff, and trust that they have provided you with the information you
need and desire. I
would like to discuss some of the measures that FedEx utilizes in the
detection and handling of radioactive materials.
FedEx has a multi-layered security program
in place to detect the presence of unapproved dangerous goods, including radioactive
materials, and prevent their movement in the FedEx worldwide system. These include, but are not limited to,
employee training and awareness programs, physical
screening of packages originating at certain security-sensitive areas of the
world,
and radioactive monitoring devices aboard FedEx aircraft and on FedEx
employees. In addition, our ability
to track and trace shipments back to the place of tender constitutes a
significant deterrent to utilizing the FedEx system for the shipment of
illegal materials. While we are confident that these measures exceed those of any
other transportation company
in the world, the events of 9/11 have shown us that the state-of-the-art must be
advanced. To that end, we have deployed, on a trial basis, advanced
radioactive monitoring sensors at our
Indianapolis Hub. This is a much
more difficult endeavor than one might initially think. Because of the normal volume of radioactive shipments that
FedEx routinely transports, such as pharmaceuticals, it is difficult to
calibrate the sensors to detect undeclared shipments while at the same time not
creating "false alarms" for legal
shipments. The Indianapolis sensing
equipment is very sophisticated, and can be finely
tuned. In addition, it measures
different types of radiation, and appears to be up to
the task of adding a significant, additional layer of security to the
FedEx system. Wewould be happy to
update you periodically as we gather more data.
If the trials continue to be
successful, we intend to deploy the equipment at significant FedEx facilities
throughout the world. Again,
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to address the committee.
Security is a shared responsibility, and I want you to know that FedEx
has committed its time, expertise, and
money to ensure that its worldwide express delivery system is not employed as a
tool of wrongdoers. I would be
happy to answer any questions that you
may have at this time.
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