GOP Bill Would Block Ports Deal

Showing no sign of backing down from a possible showdown with President Bush, House Republican leaders on Tuesday endorsed a proposal to block a government-owned Arab company’s takeover of some port facilities in six U.S. cities.

With the blessing of the GOP leadership, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, plans today to attach a provision halting the deal to must-pass legislation funding hurricane relief and military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We do not believe the U.S. should allow a state-owned company to run American ports,” said Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.)

The GOP leadership is setting up a confrontation with the White House by attaching Lewis’ measure to the $90-billion emergency spending bill, which is expected to reach the House floor next week.

Bush has threatened to veto any legislation that tries to block Dubai Ports World’s purchase of port facilities in New Orleans, Miami, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Newark, N.J., from the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a private British firm. The $6.8-billion deal, which includes port operations around the world, is expected to be finalized this week.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Tuesday evening that the administration had “ensured open and sincere lines of communication with Congress” on the matter but added: “The president’s position hasn’t changed.”

For the last few weeks, legislators from both parties have criticized the sale, which was examined and approved by an inter-agency panel -- including representatives of the departments of Defense and Homeland Security -- that determines whether national security might be compromised when foreign companies seek to purchase or invest in U.S. operations.

In response, Dubai Ports World, which is owned by one of the sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates, agreed last month to a new 45-day review of the implications of its takeover of the facilities on U.S. security. It also agreed to postpone hands-on operation of the disputed terminals until the review was completed.

Neither action has calmed the political storm.

“This is a very big political problem,” House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday. “It’s inevitable that we’re going to speak in some way.”

As Lewis was preparing his proposal, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced legislation that not only would kill the deal but prevent foreign companies from controlling facilities deemed essential to the U.S. economy and national security.

His bill would require the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to identify crucial infrastructure, which he told reporters included “not only ports but presumably power plants and other types of infrastructure which are critical to our economy and our national security.” After that occurs, “there is a requirement that that infrastructure be owned by Americans. And that means having a majority of the stock owned by Americans, that means having the CEO and a majority of the board members be of American citizenship.”

Despite the outcry over the sale of the port facilities, it was not immediately clear whether the Senate would go along with the House in acting to prevent it before the 45-day security review is complete.

“I think it’s premature to pass legislation prior to that process being completed,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Some lawmakers are looking at ways to avert a confrontation between Congress and the White House.

Collins said that if the Dubai company created an American subsidiary “where Americans who could be vetted would be in control of security,” it would be a “positive step.”

Polls have shown overwhelming public opposition to the ports deal, and a number of lawmakers don’t want to wait for completion of the 45-day security review before killing it.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has pushed legislation that would give Congress the opportunity to kill the deal after the security review.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan repeated the administration’s assertion that members of Congress would be “more comfortable with the transaction moving forward” when they had “a greater understanding of the facts.”