Posted on 02/17/2006 7:51:42 AM PST by presidio9
Two U.S. Democratic senators said on Friday they would introduce legislation aimed at blocking Dubai Ports World from buying a company that operates several U.S. shipping ports because of security concerns.
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Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Hillary Clinton of New York said they would offer a measure to ban companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from acquiring U.S. port operations.
"We wouldn't turn the border patrol or the customs service over to a foreign government, and we can't afford to turn our ports over to one either," Menendez said in a statement.
P&O, the company Dubai Ports World plans to buy for $6.8 billion, is already foreign-owned but the concern is that the purchaser is backed by the United Arab Emirates government.
The UAE company would gain control over the management of major U.S. ports in New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami, sparking national security concerns.
"I will be working with Senator Menendez to introduce legislation that will prohibit the sale of ports to foreign governments," Clinton said in a statement.
Officials with the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a U.S. inter-agency panel that reviews security implications of foreign takeovers of strategic assets, has already reviewed the transaction and did not object.
Despite that review, some Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress urged the Bush administration to conduct a more rigorous review. They expressed fears that the UAE was used as a conduit for parts used for nuclear proliferation and that the local banking system had been abused by financiers with possible links to terrorist organizations.
U.S. officials have said the UAE has been a solid and cooperative partner in the fight against terrorism, and have praised the UAE for steps to protect its booming financial sector against abuse by terrorism financiers.
Money for the September 11 attacks was wired through the UAE's banking system, according to U.S. officials. Two of the September 11 hijackers were UAE citizens.
U.S. seaports handle 2 billion tons of freight each year but only about 5 percent of containers entering the United States are examined on arrival.
Similar concerns were raised when a China state-controlled oil company tried to acquire the U.S. oil company Unocal. After pressure from American lawmakers, the foreign company eventually dropped out of the bidding.
But don't blame the "let's privatize everything" crowd, correct?
Sad that the republicans are so blind on this issue.
There is enough blame for them as well.
I think you mean COSTIND :)
Uh the clock is still broken, so why would a person trust it when it's wrong the next minute.
I saw that on a bumper sticker last week, a front bumper.
Oh great. HRC's contributions til now have been inconsequential...meaningless resolution type things that honor people who survived cancer or rescue puppies. Total lack of serious track record for a presidential run. She knows she needs something more substantive to point to. This is made to order for a marxist needing to wrap herself in a national security flag.
She isn't, IMHO. She's an opportunist with a staff that knows what they are doing.
I have to agree with her staff on this one. Even if the UAE deal was on the up and up, in this post 9/11 era, you can't outsource anything related to national security, especially to a country in the middle east.
Heh heh heh...
Several Republican are critical this plan.
Bush should come out against this deal today, not let it sit around collecting media/liberal dust for the next 3 weeks so it can become yet another big controversy. Is it that difficult for American companies to run our ports?
What qualifies for political astuteness in your book? Being a nose-to-the-grindstone legislator?
Yes, there are as they should be.
True, but this port sale is a VERY BAD idea
Also, while I disagree with privatizing port security to ANY extent, let's keep in mind that Dubai is not Syria.
Then how come hiallry and chuckie schumer were not "outraged" when other foreign firms are operating port facilities such as this Danish one.
P & O Ports operates the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal and owns a 50 percent interest in the Port Newark Container Terminal, which is the third-largest cargo terminal on the Port Authority's property. The other half-interest is owned by a subsidiary of Maersk Line, which is based in Denmark.
You maybe correct that her staff is astute, astute to PT Barnum(there is a sucker born every minute)
What has it come to when we have to root for Hillary and Chucky to get things done?
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