As President Barack Obama continues to ponder the future of American troops in Afghanistan, U.S. Rep. David Price stressed this week that the matter isn’t just one for the military.

"Nobody thinks this should be a rushed decision – or a decision that should just be about the military,” Price said. “We have to be aware of the security requirements to back up national policy – not military action for its own sake.”

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, returned Monday from a week-long swing through the Middle East, reports Barb Barrett. While there, he spent three days in Afghanistan meeting with troops, generals and Afghan government officials.

Price said in an interview he doesn’t expect to brief the White House on the visit, but he did speak with the State Department before the trip, and he stressed afterward that Obama shouldn’t rush into a decision on Afghanistan.

"He should take the time and consideration he needs to to make the decision in a careful and responsible way,” Price said.

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U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge is traveling this week to an as-yet-undisclosed location in the Middle East, where he will meet with military and foreign officials.

Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, is a member of the House Agriculture, Budget and Homeland Security committees, reports Barb Barrett.

His congressional district dips down to the U.S. Army base Fort Bragg outside Fayetteville.

U.S. Rep. David Price saw first-hand the struggles of securing U.S.-bound port cargo during a trip to the Middle East last week.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, led a six-member congressional team to the region, Barb Barrett reports. Among their visits were trips to ports in Alexandria, Egypt, and Salala, Oman, where U.S. officials from the Department of Homeland Security screen cargo before it boards ships bound for the United States.

Price is chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that pays for homeland security.
The overseas cargo screening projects are part of two pilot programs going on right now within the agency, Price said in an interview.

He said that while the programs have been negotiated at the highest levels of government, he learned that challenges remain in the "on the ground" work among DHS officials and local port workers.

"The Department of Homeland Security is not a diplomatic operation," Price said. "It’s complicated to work with these foreign officials especially at the ground level… . It involves diplomatic and managerial skills. … We’re not there yet."

The idea is to loosen clogged ports here in the United States by scanning cargo for radioactive material, explosives and other terrorist threats before it heads to our shores.

The program in Alexandria focuses on high-risk cargo. The program in Salala, which Price said is much further along, aims to do a full screening of all goods moving through the port.

"I'd say I'm very pleased with the process in Salala," Price said. "Alexandria is an example of some of the challenges."

U.S. Rep. David Price is in the Middle East this week on homeland security business.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, left Jan. 4 for the trip, which has so far taken him to Israel, Jordan, Oman and Egypt. He returns Sunday.

Price, who leads the House’s homeland security funding subcommittee, has several issues on his to-do list, said spokesman Paul Cox.

He is visiting foreign ports to see in-person the security work that U.S. officials are doing there to pre-screen cargo bound for the United States. Price also is trying to learn new ideas for homeland security from countries such as Israel that face ongoing threats from terrorism.

And he is taking a look at how U.S. officials abroad are doing in processing the asylum claims of refugees from the war in Iraq.

So far on his trip, Price has met with foreign ministers in Egypt, Oman, and Jordan, and with the prime minister of Jordan, Cox said.

He also is scheduled to meet with Israel’s foreign minister and with business leaders in the Palestinian West Bank.