Key GOP Lawmaker Blasts Ports Deal
Rep. Duncan Hunter Says He Will Try To Stop Ports Deal
-
Play CBS Video Video Lawmakers Address Port Deal The controversial Arab-port deal is expected to take center stage on Capitol Hill as lawmakers are expected to introduce a bill that will give Congress more say in the process. Aleen Sirgany reports.
-
Video Port Deal Put On Hold The United Arab Emirates-based company that was scheduled to take over six U.S. ports has now agreed to review the deal, which had initially raised security concerns. Bill Plante reports.
-
Video Deal Averts Port Deal Showdown Only On The Web: Bill Plante reports on a deal between Congress and the White House that will extend a security review on Dubai Ports World, but President Bush will still have the final say.
-
-
Chief operating officer of Dubai Ports Edward H. Bilkey, left, is questioned by the Senate Commerce Committee during a hearing on Dubai Ports World's deal to run terminals at six U.S. ports on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006. (AP Photo)
-
A container ship is loaded at the Port Newark Container Terminal in Newark, N.J. (AP)
-
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., right, and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., are among the senators who have criticized the deal letting a Dubai-based company run shipping terminals at six major U.S. ports. (AP Photo)
-
A cargo ship is unloaded at Maryland's Port of Baltimore on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006. (AP)
-
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer stops a truck towing a cargo container in the lane of a radiation detection device at Port Newark in Newark, N.J. (AP)
-
-
Interactive Ports In The Storm Controversy over plan to transfer management of six U.S. ports to a Dubai-owned company.
-
Interactive America On Guard The Homeland Security Department, the terror alert system, preparedness quiz and more.
-
Photo Essay Border Insecurity The slow, sensitive path to tighter security along America's borders.
Leading Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee also asked the administration for details about all pending reviews of foreign business deals and any that have been conducted since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The U.S. has conducted only 25 such investigations among 1,600 business transactions reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States since 1988. The panel, made up of 12 government representatives, judges the security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry.
Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, complained that he learned about the second Dubai investigation from news reports, despite regular meetings and discussions with the administration and others on the ports issue recently.
"Maybe they still haven't gotten their act together over the last few days," said King, R-N.Y.
Senior U.S. officials told lawmakers they will try to inform Congress better in the future.
"We clearly have to do quite a bit in finding ways to provide you more promptly with the information you need," Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt told the Senate Banking Committee.
The same U.S. review panel also is investigating plans by an Israeli software company, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., to purchase a smaller U.S. rival.
Kimmitt said U.S. officials notified congressional leaders and oversight committees about the second Dubai-related investigation Monday. The company's lawyers were notified the following day.
Connecticut's governor and several members of the state congressional delegation expressed concern about the Doncasters purchase.
"I hope the administration will thoroughly review this deal and not be forced into additional investigations as it was in the Dubai port deal," said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. "We must know who is providing America with its most sensitive military technologies."
Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., said she also supported a full investigation.
"This deal raises serious security concerns because the company supplies parts to key defense contractors including Pratt & Whitney," Johnson said in a written statement. "It is appropriate for a thorough national security investigation to go forward."
©MMVI, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
More From Politics
