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us security at stake?
- Thread starter anthrax
- Start date
From Bloomberg:
Lawmakers increased pressure on the Bush administration to review its approval of the $6.8 billion sale of a company that operates six U.S. ports to a firm controlled by the United Arab Emirates.
Democrats and Republicans said they still had concerns after assurance from the Bush administration last week that the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to DP World, Dubai's port company, wouldn't affect U.S. security.
``It's unbelievably tone-deaf politically at this point in our history, four years after 9/11, to entertain the idea of turning port security over to a company based in the UAE, who avows to destroy Israel,'' Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said in a ``Fox News Sunday'' interview.
DP World would gain control over most operations at ports in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore and New Orleans through the acquisition of Peninsular and Oriental.
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on the Senate homeland security committee, said on ABC's ``This Week'' that he and Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the committee's chairwoman, are sending letters to Treasury Secretary John Snow and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking why they agreed to the sale.
Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers called for hearings and Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey proposed legislation to bar the acquisition.
Safeguards and Assurances
Chertoff said on ABC's ``This Week'' that the Bush administration is focused on the security aspects of such acquisitions.
``You can be assured that before a deal is approved, we put safeguards in place and assurances in place that make everybody comfortable,'' he said.
Chertoff serves on a government panel headed by Snow known as the Committee on Foreign Investment, which must approve corporate acquisitions that have national security implications.
Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, said the Bush administration needs a broader investigation into DP World.
``We've got to ensure ourselves that the American people's national security interests are going to be protected,'' he said on ``Fox News Sunday.'' ``The threshold ought to be a little higher for a foreign firm.''
Lieberman said he hadn't decided whether to oppose the acquisition.
Chertoff and Snow should brief lawmakers so the U.S. Congress can reach a decision ``as to whether we want to do something to stop the sale,'' Lieberman said. ``Right now, I don't know enough to say that we should.''
Lawmakers increased pressure on the Bush administration to review its approval of the $6.8 billion sale of a company that operates six U.S. ports to a firm controlled by the United Arab Emirates.
Democrats and Republicans said they still had concerns after assurance from the Bush administration last week that the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to DP World, Dubai's port company, wouldn't affect U.S. security.
``It's unbelievably tone-deaf politically at this point in our history, four years after 9/11, to entertain the idea of turning port security over to a company based in the UAE, who avows to destroy Israel,'' Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said in a ``Fox News Sunday'' interview.
DP World would gain control over most operations at ports in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore and New Orleans through the acquisition of Peninsular and Oriental.
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on the Senate homeland security committee, said on ABC's ``This Week'' that he and Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the committee's chairwoman, are sending letters to Treasury Secretary John Snow and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking why they agreed to the sale.
Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers called for hearings and Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey proposed legislation to bar the acquisition.
Safeguards and Assurances
Chertoff said on ABC's ``This Week'' that the Bush administration is focused on the security aspects of such acquisitions.
``You can be assured that before a deal is approved, we put safeguards in place and assurances in place that make everybody comfortable,'' he said.
Chertoff serves on a government panel headed by Snow known as the Committee on Foreign Investment, which must approve corporate acquisitions that have national security implications.
Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, said the Bush administration needs a broader investigation into DP World.
``We've got to ensure ourselves that the American people's national security interests are going to be protected,'' he said on ``Fox News Sunday.'' ``The threshold ought to be a little higher for a foreign firm.''
Lieberman said he hadn't decided whether to oppose the acquisition.
Chertoff and Snow should brief lawmakers so the U.S. Congress can reach a decision ``as to whether we want to do something to stop the sale,'' Lieberman said. ``Right now, I don't know enough to say that we should.''
gotmilk
New member
I see nothing wrong with it. Ownership and security are two issues.
I am working with the Kuwaiti Finance Ministry on a project where we are going to acquire a large Fortune 500 company. These guys are die-hard muslims but they would never jeopardize security.
Anyone screws with those ports and the US will seize control.
I am working with the Kuwaiti Finance Ministry on a project where we are going to acquire a large Fortune 500 company. These guys are die-hard muslims but they would never jeopardize security.
Anyone screws with those ports and the US will seize control.
