An admiral told congressmen that the Coast Guard was well-equipped to do its job while port security experts painted doomsday scenarios shutting down commerce and travel on the Mississippi River.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee, in its first year as a permanent group, held its first field hearing Tuesday morning at the Vicksburg Convention Center to discuss port security. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Bolton is the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, which toured the Port of Vicksburg Monday and heard testimony during a 3 1/2-hour session Tuesday.

Cynthia Swain, director of security at the Port of New Orleans, said she feared a strategically sunken ship at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The effect could be to shut down river traffic for a year, Swain said.

Swain said the Port of New Orleans, which received $8 million in grants in 2004, needed more federal dollars to secure the port.

“The funding award does not pay for 100 percent of the finished projects. Ports must still bear the cost of mandatory ‘matching’ amounts, internal labor and managements costs and project overruns not covered by the award,” Swain said.

The Port of New Orleans went over its budget by $1.5 million in 2004 to pay for security, Swain said.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Robert Duncan gave a more upbeat report, saying, “I have what I need to do the job.” The Coast Guard has seen its funding increase by 50 percent since 2000, said Duncan, who is the commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District, which includes the Gulf Coast and most of the nation’s inland waterways.

Jimmy Heidel, director of the Warren County Port Commission, told the congressmen about the economic impact of the Port of Vicksburg. Water traffic is up, he said, because the shipping rates are lower compared to trucking or rail transport. Twenty-four local companies depend on river transport, Heidel said. Those companies employee 2,413 people, have a $113 million payroll and ship 3.75 million tons a year.

Deirdre McGowan, director of Inland Rivers Ports and Terminals, Inc., said she was concerned about the funding emphasis on securing containers, rather than training employees to look for suspicious activity.

“Containers on barges is an emerging thing, but it’s not the only thing. We can’t track containers at the expense of everything else,” McGowan said.

Committee Chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., agreed, saying that some types of threats would get through even the most sophisticated inspection technology.

“Container tracking when it comes to biological weapons is almost useless,” Cox said.

Thompson talked about communication among first responders during an emergency, citing problems between the New York City fire and police departments during the 9/11 attacks.

“If we had an emergency here, could we get everyone responding on the same frequency?” Thompson asked.

Duncan said designating a single frequency for all first responders could cause logistical problems.

“If everyone’s on the same frequency, you can’t hear anyone talking,” Duncan said. What’s more important is for leaders and dispatchers to communicate, he said.

Swain said port security uses a “patchwork” system when multiple agencies are needed.

Sheriff Martin Pace, who was not a witness at the hearing, said Warren County already has a system in place where police, fire and sheriff’s deputies can communicate if needed. Also, Warren County uses only one E-911 dispatch center for all the agencies.

Thompson was also worried about the U.S. Coast Guard’s ability to respond to the Vicksburg area. A Coast Guard vessel and detachment are based at the Port of Vicksburg, but for river navigation maintenance work. Otherwise, the nearest Coast Guard units are in Baton Rouge and Memphis.

Duncan said the Coast Guard has emergency plans for all of the ports along the river.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Department, which has law enforcement jurisdiction on the river, uses three boats to patrol and perform rescues, Pace said after the hearing. Coast Guard personnel sometimes work with sheriff’s deputies on planned events, Pace said.

All of the panelists agreed that people, not funding, would make the difference in preventing a terrorist attack.

“Money is a big part of this, but it is so far eclipsed by a security awareness,” Duncan said, citing the World War II-era “Rosie the Riveter” propaganda campaigns as a good way to encourage people to report suspicious activities.

Thompson agreed, saying, “It really boils down to all of us being vigilant about what we see.”

Other congressmen at the hearing were Reps. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., John Linder, R-Ga., and Bob Etheridge, D-N.C. Louisiana Republican Rep. Bobby Jindal toured the river Monday, but did not stay for the Tuesday hearing.

Committee chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., said the committee’s first field hearing was well worth it.

“Our take-away from Vicksburg is going to be very useful,” Cox said. Talking to local first responders was encouraging, he said, because he saw how hard they worked.

“We’re placing much higher demands on ourselves, post-9/11, than we ever have been before,” Cox said.