House subcommittee questions administration review of foreign
deals
By DAVID HAMMER Associated Press Writer
(AP) - WASHINGTON-As questions continued about a Dubai-based
company's plans to take over some U.S. port operations, a House
subcommittee on Wednesday questioned the secretive process for
reviewing foreign investments in U.S. assets.
The executive branch review panel, the Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United States, has been quietly approving hundreds
of investment deals for more than 30 years, only reporting their
findings to Congress after the transactions were complete.
Lawmakers on a House Financial Services subcommittee that
oversees the review panel asked to be included more readily in a
process that raised no red flags when United Arab Emirates-based DP
World moved to buy the British company now in charge of 27 terminals
at six U.S. seaports.
"Perhaps it's time to bring the process into a new decade with
more transparency," said Republican lawmaker Deborah Pryce, the
subcommittee chairwoman and generally a staunch supporter of
President George W. Bush's administration.
"Clearly, the administration's approval process reflects a
pre-9/11 mentality," said Carolyn Maloney, the ranking Democrat on
the subcommittee.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said more involvement by
higher-ranking agency officials and better, earlier briefings of
congressional oversight committees would be warranted.
"Let's notify the Congress," Kimmitt said. "It would have given
us a better chance to present the facts" of the Dubai deal before
the controversy erupted.
Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson said his
department has already made internal changes to make sure "front
office" officials are notified of such deals during the initial
review.
Lawmakers in both parties have complained the review of the Dubai
deal was "casual and cursory," and the deputy-level officials
acknowledged Wednesday that lower-level employees made the decision
in January to approve the deal without notifying them until
February.
The Bush administration has agreed to conduct a full 45-day
investigation, although the top Democrat on the House Financial
Services Committee, Barney Frank, doubted it could be objective.
Other lawmakers on the subcommittee challenged the administration's
claims that the United Arab Emirites is a full ally in the war on
terror. 2006-03-02T03:07:25Z
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