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House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Deal

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 05:19:12 PM EST
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President Bush must be hopping mad today. By a vote of 62-2, the House Appropriations Committee voted to jettison the Dubai Ports deal:

The House Appropriations Committee defied President Bush this evening, voting overwhelmingly to scuttle a deal giving a Dubai company control of some major seaport operations without awaiting the outcome of a 45-day review of potential security risks.

Representative Jerry Lewis, the California Republican who is chairman of the panel, made good on his threat to keep the port terminal takeover from going forward. He added an amendment blocking the transaction to an essential emergency spending measure that provides money for the war in Iraq and for Hurricane Katrina recovery. "It is my intention to lay the foundation to block the deal," he said Tuesday.

Bush has promised to veto any legislation blocking the deal. But, because the amendment is tacked on to an Iraq/Afghanistan funding bill, he may change his mind.

The Appropriations Committee made it more difficult for Mr. Bush to cast a veto by using must-pass legislation that provides about $91 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as hurricane recovery money, to convey members' unhappiness over the proposed port-terminal takeover. The bill is on a fast track and could reach the House floor next week.

[Graphic created exclusively for TalkLeft by CL.]

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    House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Deal | 11 comments (11 topical)
    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#1)
    by Lora on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 06:07:27 PM EST
    Good news so far...we'll just have to see if it's still good in 45 days, or goes the route of all the other good news from Congress.

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#2)
    by Mike on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 06:10:36 PM EST
    Some folks never learn. Bush will sic Cheney on the Senate where they will find a "compromise deal". Bus won't be thrown under the bus by his own party until after the midterms. Until then, don't get your hopes up too much. Current discussion of Bush's impotence is waaay premature

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#3)
    by Sailor on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 07:12:43 PM EST
    Hoist on his own retard;-)

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#4)
    by Che's Lounge on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 09:34:35 PM EST
    No wonder he's fighting so hard for the line item veto.

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#6)
    by Punchy on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 06:48:22 AM EST
    That's the whole idea! Bush and Co. need this deal DEAD. However, before the dumba## knew what he was saying, he threatened to veto it. This is the only way to block the deal, AND have Bush NOT veto it without looking weak. Mission accomplished, Repubs. However, I have NO idea what Frist is doing in the Senate, blocking votes...

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 07:10:26 AM EST
    What is the logic here for opposing this deal as signed?

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 07:52:42 AM EST
    I see the logic to opposing the deal as this. Increased self-sufficiency will lead to increased security. The less business we do with tyrants will lead to less "blowback" from such business later. American companies with ties to the nation and it's communities should be operating our ports, distributing our energy, etc. Not foreign state owned companies with no allegiance to the red, white, and blue. But the rats in the House are opposing it because supporting it is political suicide in 2006. The right vote for the wrong reasons...if you will.

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#9)
    by Sailor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 08:15:28 AM EST
    Dubai was connected to 9/11.

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#10)
    by swingvote on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 09:03:33 AM EST
    Kdog, I agree completely. Sailor, How so? Are you saying that the government od Dubai was involved in the attacks on 9-11, or are you merely referring to the fact that 2 of the attackers came from there?

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#11)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 09:24:48 AM EST
    Increased self-sufficiency will lead to increased security. The less business we do with tyrants will lead to less "blowback" from such business later. That about sums up the solution to many of the problems we face. The cascade effect would be a precipitous drop in terrorism. But Kdog's observation simply cannot be realized unless we reign in the transnationals, and redefine the mission statement of the Pentagon from that of world wide arms merchant.

    Re: House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Dea (none / 0) (#12)
    by Sailor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 09:27:23 AM EST
    The report states U.S. intelligence believed that bin Laden was visiting an area in the Afghan desert in February 1999 near a hunting camp used by U.A.E. officials, and that the U.S. military planned a missile strike. Intelligence from local tribal sources indicated "bin Laden regularly went from his adjacent camp to the larger camp where he visited the Emirates," the report said.
    Bin Laden's operatives still using freewheeling Dubai DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Osama bin Laden's operatives still use this freewheeling city as a logistical hub three years after more than half the Sept. 11 hijackers flew directly from Dubai to the United States in the final preparatory stages for the attack.
    a State Department report critical of human rights practices in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of sheikdoms without a democratically elected government.
    House Committee Votes to Block Dubai Ports Deal | 11 comments (11 topical)