But if we delay the takeover we are HELPING the terrorists!
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Dubai Ports World has agreed to postpone its plans to take over management of six U.S. ports after the proposal ignited harsh bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill.
"We need to understand the concerns of the people in the U.S. who are worried about this transaction and make sure they are addressed to the benefit of all parties," said Ted Bilkey, the company's chief operating officer, in a statement released Thursday night.
According to the statement, DP World will delay taking over management of the U.S. ports "while it engages in further consultations with the Bush administration and, as appropriate, congressional leadership and relevant port authorities to address concerns over future security arrangements."
The announcement came on the heels of comments from the second in command at the Pentagon, who said Thursday that people who publicly oppose allowing a Middle Eastern company to take over management of some U.S. ports could be threatening national security.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told the Senate Armed Services Committee that blocking the deal could ostracize one of the United States' few Arab allies.
"The terrorists want our nation to become distrustful," England said. "They want us to become paranoid and isolationist, and my view is we cannot allow this to happen. It needs to be just the opposite."
We'd like to welcome Tom DeLay and Bill Frist to the "you're with us or you're with the terrorists" club. How does it feel, boys? We shall have NO dissent from you!
Mom is going to owe me a dinner.
Republican leaders in both the House and Senate have demanded that Bush delay the deal so it can be scrutinized, and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, accused the White House of taking "a casual approach" to its review.
Levin also said the president's threat to veto legislation that would interfere with the deal demonstrates that the White House is "out of touch" with the public's concerns.
"It also demonstrates presidential disdain for outside views in general and congressional views in particular," Levin said.
I saw some clips of Carl- he was pretty hot under the collar. He usually doesn't get like that. But it turns out once again that the WH is ignoring laws that it doesn't like, and that ticked Carl off a bit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee angrily accused the Bush administration Thursday of ignoring the law by refusing to extend an investigation of a United Arab Emirates company's takeover of significant U.S. port operations.
Clashing with a Treasury Department official on a mission to calm a political uproar, Sen. Carl Levin said the law has language specifically requiring a longer review than the one that an interagency committee conducted, if a business deal could affect national security.
"Is there not one agency in this government that believes this takeover could affect the national security of the United States?" the Michigan Democrat asked at a committee briefing. Chairman John Warner, R-Va., in a very unusual procedure on Capitol Hill, allowed reporters to question the administration witnesses.
The Treasury official, Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmitt, and officials from other agencies said a multiagency group spent three months reviewing the port deal and said that all concerns about security were satisfied.
"We're not aware of a single national security concern raised recently that was not part of" the three-month review, Kimmitt said.
Levin insisted that the law that established the multiagency panel specifically said that any such review should be lengthened by 45 days if it could have an impact on national security.
Just hours before the hearing, President Bush declared that "people don't need to worry about security" in the deal.
Levin, raising his voice at the briefing, told Kimmitt, "If you want the law changed, come to Congress and change it, but don't ignore it."
Kimmitt responded: "We didn't ignore the law. Concerns were raised. They were resolved."
Warner then jumped in to assure Levin that he would ask Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to prepare a memorandum on the administration's interpretation of the law.
Ahhh, The WH gets to "interpret" the law for us. Again.
Better watch out Carl. You're going to end up on a no-fly list.