Posted on 02/21/2006 9:27:14 AM PST by STARWISE
Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist called Tuesday for the Bush administration to stop a deal permitting a United Arab Emirates company to take over six major U.S. seaports, upping the ante on a fight that several congressmen, governors and mayors are waging with the White House.
"The decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold until the administration conducts a more extensive review of this matter," said Frist. "If the administration cannot delay this process, I plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review."
In the uneasy climate after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration decision to allow the transaction is threatening to develop a major political headache for the White House.
"I'm not against foreign ownership," said Frist, "but my main concern is national security." He was speaking to reporters in Long Beach, Calif., where Frist was doing a fact-finding tour on port security and immigration issues.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
And shows the same lack of judgement and wisdom.
We only have a slight difference. You're undoubtedly referring to this Administration, while I see this lack of judgment and wisdom in many posters on this forum. Details, details.
"U.S. ports are United States ports."
You are right. And they should be controlled by the longshoremen. Or maybe the TSA.
Interesting term of FOX News from a so-called Freeper....OR sleeper DU troll.
You've been outed.
Yes, that's it, exactly. I always laugh at the absurdity of the "jobs Americans won't do" line because the jobs were all 'getting done' by Americans long before waves of illegal aliens arrived here. Everyone I know took summer jobs harvesting fruit or tending tables or driving carts, mowing lawns, babysitting, cooking meals, housekeeping, sweeping up, tending stock, doing laundry...and those jobs all 'got done' the rest of the year, too, even past summer jobs for highschoolers.
Check your compensation rate and there's where the problem lies. If businesses resort to breaking laws to make a go of things, I can't for the life of me figure out how and why federal office holders of various degrees try to make it alright for them to do so. The normal response is do it legally or stop doing it...or go to jail or pay a fine if you think the illegal way is the 'only' way. That includes businesses that say they can only remain in busines by engaging in unlawful hiring practices.
Your point being that Clinton fell down on the job just like Bush so it's a wash, move along, nothing to see?
This IS a political website, but not "rah rah my team, right or wrong."
Get in line or I'll smack you with my megaphone.
I'll agree that Bush has done a crappy job on the border, but that is a different matter entirely. Don't let the MSM or the Rats sneak their thoughts into your minds. The worst thing here is that the profits may go to the pockets of people of another country. Chrysler is German. The profit of most cars sold in US go to the Japanese.
well the difference between us and hillary is that "most" of the time we will call our own on the carpet.
Monday, Feb. 20, 2006 12:02 p.m. EST
Peter King: Dubai Ports Company in 'al-Qaida Heartland'
House Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King ratcheted up the rhetoric Monday morning on the Bush administration's decision to permit Dubai Ports World to control six major U.S. ports, saying the company is based in "the heartland of al-Qaida."
"By having a company right out of the heartland of al-Qaida managing those ports without being properly cleared or investigated, to me is madness," Rep. King told ABC News.
King cited "a number of reports about the port of Dubai itself, about weapons going through that port, to Iran, about corruption, and again about an al-Qaida presence. And I know there was no real investigation done on this matter."
King said he intends to ask President Bush to "freeze the contract [on the ports takeover], put it on hold, take no action till a full and complete investigation is done."
The Dubai company's ports takeover was approved last month by the Committee on Foreign Investment, headed by Treasury Secretary John Snow.
Over the weekend, both Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted that the Dubai ports deal had been thoroughly reviewed and posed no threat to national security.
During an appearance on ABC's "This Week," however, Chertoff said he couldn't discuss details of the review because they were classified.
Rep. King said approval of the controversial deal was granted because "bureaucrats" had applied pre-9/11 standards.
"This is a classic situation, I think, of bureaucrats who just missed the boat here," he explained. "This went through. They were applying business as usual [rules] and they forgot it was post-9/11."
Unless President Bush intervenes, the Dubai ports takeover is set to commence on March 1.
OPS4
God Bless America!
Bush just quoted on AF1 that this ports issue doesn't affect our security, and he will veto any bill that's focused on ending this deal.
Very good questions, and we need the answers before the deal is made.
I've also read that the deal won't necessarily make the UAE responsible for the screening of shipments. However, I still have a problem with this, because I've read not so promising stories on how the screening at US ports is...how do you say...not so thorough.
If UAE does get the deal, the do we have to increase security or screening for this port? This will cost more money, no?
There is probably an answer to all of this, however, the administration should have been prepared for this public or democratic backlash...and sad to say it, but they weren't prepared, and they aren't answering the quesitons.
Here's the problem, and although it may not be an actual national security issue, it is a public relations nightmare, the way they let this info get out.
I consider myself to know a bit more than the average person relating to this Port Deal, that being said, I can tell you that in all actuality, I don't really know half of what is going on.
The headline "UAE to Buy Major Eastern US Port Operations," on the surface is very scary. The average American is going to hear this and it doesn't take alot of spin to throw egg in Bush's face.
indcons wrote:
Pure BS....amazing how you have managed to post that nonsense without a single fact to back up your assertions.
REPLY:
Senior Keyboard Warrior you want facts but are to lazy to do even the modicum of research needed to prove your point.
You wildly broad brushed my comments as nonsense.
Well I have been around H1's and J visa holders for years.
Some visa holders are faithful but the majority are plotting ways to stay in the country and that includes (lowing themselves) marrying an American woman if they have to.
Read the following from
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/H1BFAQs.htm#DoesFraudH-1BOccur
How Often Does Fraud in the H-1B Program Occur
The short answer is Very Often
The United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (OIG) admitted in the year 2000 that the fraud and abuse continues. This is after a major report in 1996 outlined numerous instances of fraud. Nothing has improved and this is what the report says:
"The OIG continues to identify fraud in the labor certification program, particularly in the H-1B temporary work visa program. These cases involve fraudulent petitions that are filed with DOL on behalf of fictitious companies and corporations; individuals who file petitions using the names of legitimate companies and corporations without their knowledge or permission; and increasing numbers of immigration attorneys and labor brokers who collect fees and file fraudulent applications on behalf of aliens. Based on prior investigative and audit work that found programmatic weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the program, the OIG remains concerned about the potential for increased fraud in this area."
"The OIG continues to identify fraud in the FLC programs, with the majority of cases involving the H-1B temporary work visa program. These cases involve fraudulent petitions that are filed with DOL on behalf of fictitious companies and corporations, individuals who file petitions using the names of legitimate companies and corporations without their knowledge or permission, and an increasing number of immigration attorneys and labor brokers who collect fees and file fraudulent applications on behalf of aliens. During the last six-month period, OIG investigations led to the indictmentand conviction of 12 individuals engaged in this type of fraud. In comparison, the OIG has averaged 14 indictments and 11 convictions per year for labor certification fraud over the prior five-year period." [3]
Accusations that H-1B applicants falsify job experience and education were confirmed by Jacquelyn Williams-Bridgers, State Dept. Inspector General, who said that attempts to falsify, alter, or counterfeit U.S. visas or passports and attempting to obtain false documents to obtain visas is a "constant problem both within the U.S. and overseas." [4]
William Yates, INS Director, Immigration Services, said INS mainly encounters two types of visa fraud. First, fraud relating to applications or petitions for immigration benefits. Second, document fraud. He admitted that the U.S. is "vulnerable to well-organized fraud schemes." [4]
Jill Esposito, State Dept. Post Liaison Division, Visa Office, Bureau of Consular Affairs, backed up Yates' statement that documents are routinely falsified. She said that, although many foreign workers in the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas are here legally and properly, there are "thousands of marginally qualified applicants (who) are also entering the United States in the H-1B and L-1 categories."
H-1Bs are coming into the country and taking jobs that the visa was clearly not meant for. The H-1B donut shop worker was one of the few that got caught. Ms. Esposito used this as an example and explained, explained that a company that had filed an H-1B petition was actually a donut shop owned by the applicant's relatives. Although the donut shop does exist, Ms. Esposito noted that it was unlikely the shop needed the 23 year-old recent graduate's skills as a "comptroller" to "direct the financial services of the company."
Ms. Esposito also cited examples of fraud at the American Consulate in Chennai, India, which issued more than 20,000 H-1B visas in Fiscal Year 1998 -- more than any overseas post. She detailed a year-long joint INS and Department of State initiative which found that 45 percent of the 3,247 work experience claims made to the INS were fraudulent. [4]
Nancy Sambaiew,Bureau of Consular Affairs, said that individuals from China, India, and Russia are the most frequent violators of nonimmigrant visa laws. Sambaiew also said that nonimmigrant visa categories (particularly H-1B) are attractive options for individuals who wish to enter and remain in the U.S. illegally. She said it is "worth the risk" to violators [4]
The sheer amount of content does not make up for facts. None of the stuff you posted connects ARABS to the H1 program. The H1 program is for "highly skilled workers"; rag heads don't qualify for this program.
Please show me any evidence that ties the H1 program to the rag heads.
Hey, Johnnie, are you as sure of the facts about this as you were about the facts of whether Rep. J. D. Hayworth has authored any legislation dealing with the borders and illegals?
Once we showed you the bill he authored, you never replied back on that thread. And you never admitted you were wrong about that.
So now, whenever I see you posting so adamantly on any subject, I laugh you to scorn. You don't even have the maturity or the class to admit when you've been proved wrong.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, Johnnie.
and even if it is not, it looks enough like one to be political suicide -- it stinks like outsourcing, it stokes the paranoid rants about Bush's alleged intimacy with Saudi oil money, it could be as dumb as it looks; in what possible way could this be a winner? And then to threaten to veto any action prohibiting the deal? Oyyyyyyyy, Mr. President...Oy!
Don't see any which way he can come out of this looking OK.
this makes me laugh out loud with glee because if it is a tactic, it clearly would require the genius of Rove to conceive it. But you realize the President would just about be falling on his sword in the process... I think frankly that he believe his "Religion of Peace" rhetoric.
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