SENATE REACHES COMPROMISE ON CONTAINER BILL.

Byline: Kristi Ellis

WASHINGTON - Republican and Democratic senators agreed to a compromise Tuesday, scaling back a proposal that would have required all U.S.-bound cargo containers in foreign ports to be inspected for radiation within five years.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) had been set to offer an amendment to a port security bill in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee that required the 100 percent inspections. Instead, he agreed to insert language in the underlying bill that said foreign ports shall implement an integrated scanning system "as soon as possible and practicable" to scan all containers entering the U.S.

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