b'MEMBERSHIPMATTERSCongress found that these 361 public ports handled over 95 percent of U.S. overseas trade. In addition, these ports tended to be very open and exposed to the public with ferries transporting over 113 million passengers and 32 million vehicles per year. As a result, the ports were found to be suscep-tible to large-scale acts of terrorism. With these fi ndings in mind, Congress passed the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) of 2002 in order to prepare the nations ports to deter future acts of terrorism. The exercise Over 35 law enforcement agencies participated in a security exercise orchestrated by Hy-Line Cruises.that took place on Nantucket Sound onboard Hy-Line Cruises Grey Lady IVagencies conducted the largest on-the- The lessons that were gainedgave each agency the training and ex-water training exercise pertaining tofrom this exercise impact not only theperience to deal with these situations, active shooter mitigation. During daysCape Cod, MA area, but the entireshould they arise. two and three, the unified commandnation. In early 2002, the United StatesMr. Bigelows hope was that it gathered at the incident command postCongress instructed the Departmentwould give responders a good idea to evaluate the short and long-termof Homeland Security to assess theof their abilities. The only true way to effects that an active shooter would361 public ports to determine theirtest this was to make it as real-life as have on ferry services, commerce, andvulnerability to breaches within thepossible. Each agency had the ability to the tourism industry. National Maritime Security (NMS).board the moving vessel and neutralize 36AUGUST 2019FOGHORN'