Well it appears we have one more reason not to trust the foreign owned Dubai Ports World with our ports. (The most pressing reason being that they are owned by a foreign government)Reports today suggest that they have broken their promise to turn over all port operations to a U.S. company and will retain operations at the port of Miami.
The Associated Press has more:
The Dubai-owned company that promised to surrender its U.S. port operations has no immediate plans to sell its U.S. subsidiary's interests at Miami's seaport, a senior executive wrote yesterday in a private e-mail to business associates.
Even if DP World were to sell its Miami operations to quell the congressional furor over an Arab-owned company managing major U.S. ports, "that would probably take a while," wrote Robert Scavone, a vice president for DP World's U.S. subsidiary.
The e-mail, obtained by the Associated Press, added to questions raised since DP World's announcement last week that it will divest U.S. port operations that it acquired when it bought London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
DP World has said those operations are worth roughly $700 million.
The takeover touched off a political uproar over the Bush administration's approval of the deal without an intensive 45-day security investigation. The company initially sought to quiet the dispute by submitting voluntarily to such an investigation.
Last week, DP World backed away from the deal further. It pledged to "transfer fully" its U.S. operations to an unspecified American company and said DP World would not suffer economic loss.
The company has steadfastly declined to clarify its statement or the timing of any possible sale, and leading congressional critics have threatened to intervene if DP World's plans fall short of a full divestiture of its U.S. operations.
"It is the American people's understanding that Dubai Ports World promised to relinquish control of all U.S. ports," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said yesterday. "If that is not the case, we will move our legislation immediately and force them to do just that."
Scavone told AP in an interview that his e-mail had been intended to reassure officials at the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co. - which manages operations there and is half-owned by a DP World subsidiary - that uncertainty surrounding the Dubai ports deal would not affect its work in Miami.
"As for the 'pending situation,' I myself am not aware of anything about it that would alter the ownership of POMTOC, so unless one or both of our esteemed partners have separately advised you that they plan to sell their interests, you should assume for your own purposes of managing the company that ownership of POMTOC is not going to change," Scavone wrote.
"And even if they do plan to sell, that would probably take a while," he wrote.
Scavone was among the company's executives who testified about the Dubai ports deal during congressional hearings this month.
Peninsular and Oriental handles significant operations at ports in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and New Jersey - plus lesser dockside activities at 16 other ports in this country.
As our blog has been reporting, Congressman Ford has been at the forefront of the fight not to outsource our security to any foreign government.
Whether it was writing an op-ed, running television ads, or going on a fact finding mission (to the Port of Miami nonetheless), Congressman Ford did it all in the name of securing America.
As Congressman Ford said, "... I believe the United States should not outsource its security to anyone."
I concur Congressman.
69 Days
Days of Congressional Inaction on Ethics
Above is the number of days that have passed since Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to bribing Congressman.
It is also the number of days in which Congress has failed to pass an ethics reform bill that would limit private travel, ski and golf junkets, and would call for a full disclosure of expenses by lobbyists on members of Congress.
It is time for Congress to step up and pass an ethics reform bill that would do all of the above. In addition, it is time to end the pork barrel spending system as we know it and establish an independent ethics commission that would review ethics complaints against members of Congress.
I am proud Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is fighting for that reform!
Read Congressman Ford's call for reform of the House rules here!
