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Dubai flap threatens other investment in US
The political firestorm over Arab management of six U.S. ports threatened to widen on Thursday after a senior House Republican said he wanted foreign firms to sell their investments in American ports, electricity plants and other infrastructure critical to U.S. security.California Republican Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said foreign investments in such areas should be "rolled back" along with the pending $6.85 billion deal involving Dubai Ports World, which is state-owned by the United Arab Emirates. Hunter was scathing in his assessment of Dubai Ports World's plan to buy Britain-based P&O, including its American port assets, saying the UAE had been "instrumental" in the transshipment of nuclear materials and weapons of mass destruction components. In the Senate, lawmakers of both parties also sought to tighten rules governing foreign investment. They expressed dismay at what they saw as Bush administration carelessness in quickly approving the Dubai Ports World deal to manage six U.S. ports without considering implications for national security. "Everything in this country can't be for sale," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby said as his panel began questioning Bush administration officials on the Dubai ports deal. The Alabama Republican said the law should be clarified to take national security into account. "While I strongly support our open investment policy and recognize that it is vital to our national economic interest, I do not believe it should stand at any cost," Shelby said. U.S. President George W. Bush says security concerns are unwarranted because the UAE is a strong ally, and he has threatened to veto any legislation blocking the deal. The Bush administration in January approved the Dubai Ports World deal but agreed over the weekend to give it a 45-day review after criticism from lawmakers who say they are worried terrorists could take advantage of the arrangement to infiltrate U.S. ports. On the House side of Capitol Hill, Hunter told reporters that under the legislation he planned, the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security would list infrastructure critical to national security. Foreign companies would then be required to divest their holdings in it, he said. Several lawmakers from both parties in the House on Thursday introduced a companion bill to Senate legislation that would ban foreign governments -- but not private foreign companies -- from controlling operations at U.S. ports. It is aimed at barring state-owned companies like Dubai Ports World. Legislation already exists in the House and the Senate to review the Dubai Ports World deal and give Congress the ability to disapprove it. Dubai Ports World officials told Hunter's Armed Services Committee the deal should be completed next Monday or Tuesday, pending the outcome of any court appeals in Britain. A British judge ruled on Thursday the $6.85 billion takeover could go ahead. Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, or CFIUS, the interagency panel that OK'd the ports deal, would start its 45-day review when the company filed papers requesting it. Company executives told House lawmakers that Dubai Ports World would abide by any new CFIUS conditions "that would be reasonable" and also applied to competitors. Officials confirmed on Thursday that another UAE company, Dubai International Capital, was under CFIUS review for its planned $1.24 billion acquisition of London-based Doncasters Group Ltd. It operates in nine U.S. locations and makes parts for U.S. defense contractors. Posted by: lotp 2006-03-03 |
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