WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers renewed efforts to torpedo a multi-billion dollar deal that would allow a Dubai company to take over operations of six major US ports, saying it would put homeland security in jeopardy.
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Republican representative Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record), the chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, one of the most strident opponents of the takeover, announced that he was introducing the National Defense Critical Infrastructure Protection Act -- legislation designed to sink the deal.
His bill, one of a score or more introduced in Congress over the past couple of weeks to slow down or impede the sale would require that any "national defense critical infrastructure" in the United States be owned and controlled by US citizens.
He said that the citizenship requirements would also extend to the corporate management of such companies, including the chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors.
"With this legislation, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security would be able to ensure our critical infrastructure -- such as ports and energy facilities -- is maintained by reliable and trusted American companies," said Hunter.
"This will reduce exposure to terrorism in some of our most vulnerable facilities. To those who say this is protectionism, I say - America is worth protecting."
After initially approving the 6.8 billion dollar deal, the administration of President George W. Bush has launched a fresh review of the transaction, after encountering fierce opposition in Congress.
The deal, in which DP World would take over Britain's Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Navigation Co. which currently runs the six ports, has provoked outcries that it would endanger US security.
Another outspoken lawmaker opposed to the deal, US Senator Chuck Schumer, said he and other members of Congress were alarmed by remarks made over the weekend by Dubai Ports World chief executive officer Mohammed Sharaf about the buyout.
"When you read his comments, one thing becomes pretty clear: that the leadership of Dubai Ports World doesn't really care about security," Schumer said.
"During the interview, he wasn't familiar with US security requirements. He had no knowledge of how many containers were screened in Dubai. He didn't have any understanding of what kind of security checks are done on employees of Dubai Ports World to make sure that terrorists didn't infiltrate the group," Schumer said.
"All he seemed to care about very simply was that this was an economic deal and that we had to -- that it was his view that he had to please his shareholders.
"One must approach this merger with an extreme degree of dubiousness," Schumer said.
Last week a bipartisan group of senators led by Schumer introduced legislation to suspend the Dubai port deal immediately.
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