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February 19, 2006

Dems Find A Good Cause: Go Dems on Blocking the Dubai Port Deal!

It's great to see the Dems get hold of a good cause that deserves their attention, and where they can really make a difference for the good of this country. The cause is blocking control of a major U.S. port by the United Arab Emirates:

Democrats plan bill to block Dubai port deal

(Washington, D.C.): How would you feel if, in the aftermath of 9/11, the U.S. government had decided to contract out airport security to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the country where most of the operational planning and financing of the attacks occurred? It seems a safe bet that you, like most Americans, would think it a lunatic idea, one that could clear the way for still more terror in this country. You probably would want to know who on earth approved such a plan - and be determined to prevent it from happening.

Of course, no such thing occurred after September 11, 2001. In fact, the job of keeping our planes and the flying public secure was deemed to be so important that the government itself took it over from private contractors seen as insufficiently rigorous in executing that responsibility.

Non-Starter

Now, however, four-and-a-half years later, a secretive government committee has decided to turn over the management of six of the Nation's most important ports - in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore and New Orleans - to Dubai Ports World following the UAE company's purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which previously had the contract.

The move to shut down this port deal is bipartisan. From Frank Gaffney:

This morning, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs told the audience of Maine's WLOB-AM (whose "Maine in the Morning" is simulcast on the local Fox TV affiliate) that she would hold a hearing on the planned takeover by the UAE's Dubai Ports World of responsibility for operations at the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal in Manhattan, at a Port Authority terminal in Newark, New Jersey, and terminals in four other major port cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans.

Sen. Collins joins a number of other influential figures in expressing concern about this initiative. They include her counterpart on the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King (R-NY); Sen. Chuck Shumer (D-NY) of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) who are members of Sen. Collins' committee; and three other Congressmen: Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT), Mark Foley (R-FL) and Vito Fossella (R-NY).

Due to this excellent effort by Dems and Republicans, it looks like the port deal will be blocked (same link):

U.A.E. PORT DEAL LIKELY TO PROVE D.O.A.

The idea of turning over operations in six important U.S. ports to a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates -- a deal approved earlier this week by a secretive interagency panel known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) -- has begun to encounter resistance from senior legislators on both sides of the aisle. As a result, the UAE deal may prove to be, as it should, dead on arrival.

I applaud the Dems for introducing this bill.