Dubai Firm Offers To Delay Ports Deal

Meanwhile, Administration Officials Offer Congress Time To Review Deal

(CBS/AP) 
"People don't need to worry about security," Mr. Bush told reporters Thursday. "This wouldn't be going forward if we weren't certain that our ports would be secure. 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."

The White House noted the United Arab Emirates contributed $100 million to help victims of Hurricane Katrina just weeks before Dubai Ports sought approval for its business deal. It said the money was nearly four times as much as the administration received from all other countries combined, and said there was no connection between the money and the pending deal.

CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports there was no sense of backing down on the port agreement by Bush agency officials, but there was acknowledgement if could have been handled better.

At the first Senate oversight hearing since the controversy erupted, lawmakers challenged the adequacy of a classified intelligence assessment that played a crucial role assuring administration officials that the Dubai Ports deal was proper. The report, which is closely guarded, was put together during four weeks in November by analysts working under the U.S. director of national intelligence.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked whether the intelligence report examined purported links between government officials in the UAE and Osama bin Laden before the September 2001 terror attacks.

"I did not see that in the report," said Robert Kimmitt, deputy secretary at the Treasury Department.

Levin said such questions about the relationship between the UAE and bin Laden were well documented in the 9/11 Commission report. "I'm glad that the UAE has taken some steps apparently afterward to address some of the antiterrorism needs the world has, but there's some evidence ... that was not true just not too many years ago," he said.

Clinton accused the administration of ignoring provisions of a federal law that require more extensive reviews when deals involve purchases by government-owned companies. Administration officials explained their long-standing practice was to conduct such broader investigations only when deals raised serious national security concerns.

Kimmitt responded: "We didn't ignore the law. Concerns were raised. They were resolved."

The White House homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, said the UAE's cooperation in fighting terrorism has changed since Sept. 11, 2001.

"They have been critical allies in Afghanistan," she told reporters at a news conference on a separate matter. "They have been critical allies in fighting the financial war against terror. They've been critical allies in terms of our military-to-military relationship."