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.
I hate it when the Dems do something I agree with. Thankfully its not very often.
I hope the Dems win this one!
I'm sure Hilda would rather see Halliburton own the ports.
Even if their effort is all BS to embarass GWB, I will support this effort. That's the difference between Libs and Conservatives. We will agree with a good idea, even if we don't agree with the people behind it. That, dear Libs, is diversity.
I hate it when Hillary Clinton is the most politically astute person around. You will never hear a speech or debate during her presidential campaign where she fails to point out that she was the first to sponsor this. this immediately becomes her primary home security credential.
Rep. Peter King was on FoxNews this morning. He didn't seem too happy with this deal, either.
If the Federal government passed a law prohibiting foreign-owned companies from operating terminals at U.S. ports tomorrow, this country would probably grind to a halt within 48 hours.
That'll come back to haunt her.
Look at them as the proverbial broken clock..
Even a broken clock is right twice a day
I agree.
Didn't a Chinese company do something similar with the port of San Diego while Clinton was president? Wonder what Hillary's position on that deal is/was...
Pinz
How much you wanna bet she is doing this so that when a Dem is in the White House the law can be changed and a sale to Chinese interests done?
That was going to be my second point in the earlier post. Note that Clinton & Menendez did not actually INTRODUCE this legislation. They are merely planning it, and the AP was only to happy to report this. Even if virtutally everybody who is aware of this story has considered the same prospect in the past two days. Hell, I am planning legislation that would bar foreign governments from running our ports. So are you. In other words HRC is going to claim that she is a homeland security hawk because the press falls all overherself every time she farts. But mark my words: She will never miss a chance to pat herself on the back about this one.
From what I heard, that's not entirely true. They would have to co-ordinate with Homeland and would know all our security protocols. Why would we want to tell an arab nation what we do about security? We would be foolish.
The connections between the Riadys and the Clintons have a much more sinister theme than simple foreign money inside U.S. elections. Testimony before the U.S. Senate revealed Moctar Riady's involvement in Chinese espionage. The Lippo Group is in fact a joint venture of China Resources, a trading and holding company "wholly owned" by the Chinese communist government and used as a front for Chinese espionage operations.
Mrs. Clinton not only knew the Riadys but took their money as well. To prove my point I need only to cite photographic evidence. Her picture with Moctar Riady is certainly damning evidence of a relationship that spanned several bank accounts and two decades. It is often said that a picture tells a thousand words. However, Hillary's pictures not only tell stories left out of her book but they also netted $10,000 each for the DNC in illegal donations.
Run, Hillie, run...
I believe it was a firm actually controlled by the Chinese military named Costco and the port was the former Long Beach Naval shipyards.
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