Bush govt moves to allay lawmakers’ fears over port deal
WASHINGTON, Feb 23: Officials from a dozen federal agencies briefed US lawmakers on Thursday on plans for a United Arab Emirates state-owned firm to assume the management of several major US ports, hoping to allay security concerns over the controversial deal.
The appearance by the officials before the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee was intended to quell runaway fears among lawmakers over the acquisition by UAE-based Dubai Ports World of a British firm which currently manages the six US ports.
US Senator Hillary Clinton expressed ‘deep concern’ about the deal, calling the process ‘a failure of judgment by the White House’.
“Port security is national security and national security is port security,” the New York Democrat said at the briefing by representatives from the departments of State, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security and other federal agencies.
Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, who charged that US port security has been handled far too cavalierly, asked: “If port security is not a top priority for our own government, how can we expect it to be a priority for a foreign government?”
Senator Carl Levin, the top Democrat on the committee, said the deal was troubling on two counts, saying that US port security already is inadequate and that ‘the UAE has an uneven history in the war on terror’.
He also took a swipe against the George W. Bush administration for not doing a better job at keeping Congress briefed about the deal, slamming ‘presidential disdain for outside views in general and congressional views in particular’.
But Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told the lawmakers that fears have been overblown, assuring them that the UAE is ‘a friend and an ally of the United States’.
He added that the vetting process for the deal ‘was not cursory and was not casual’, but rather was ‘in-depth and comprehensive’.
Outrage has erupted over the takeover, which critics said could leave the United States vulnerable to terror attacks, but the Senate committee’s Republican chairman, John Warner, earlier this week said public anxiety appears to be unwarranted.
“While we must always ensure that any proposed foreign acquisition does not threaten our national security, we must also recognize the importance of making fair and objective decisions in working with our allies — especially those which are actively supporting the coalition of nations engaged in fighting the global war on terror,” said Warner in a statement earlier this week.
“The United Arab Emirates, in my view, has played a key role supporting the United States in the war on terror,” he said.
That viewpoint has been very much in the minority, however, with most members of Congress rejecting the controversial deal out of hand, and calling for hearings and legislation to block the sale.
The president expressed the hope that an improved flow of information about the deal — including events like Thursday’s committee briefing — would help to dispel reservations.
“People don’t need to worry about security. This deal wouldn’t go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America,” Bush told reporters as he met with his cabinet on Thursday.
“The more people learn about the transaction that has been scrutinized and approved by my government, the more they’ll be comforted that our ports will be secure,” he said.
Unless blocked, the transaction is to be finalized on March 2, and the ports affected are in New York; Miami; Newark, New Jersey; Baltimore, Maryland; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“We will continue to talk to people in Congress and explain why the decision was made,” said the president.—AFP
