House Committee Approves Dubai Ports Deal Block

WASHINGTON - A House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm from taking control of some U.S port operations in an election-year repudiation of President Bush.

By 62-2, the Appropriations Committee voted to bar DP World, run by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from holding leases or contracts at U.S. ports. Bush has promised to veto any such measure passed by Congress, but the vote underscored widespread public opposition to the deal and the GOP?s fears of losing its advantage on the issue of national security in this fall?s elections.

The legislation, which could be voted on by the full House next week, was attached to an emergency spending bill providing more funds for the war in Iraq and rebuilding southern states hit last year by hurricanes.

?One of the most vulnerable situations facing America is our ports of entry,? said Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., the chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, speaking before the vote. ?Whoever?s responsible for those ports of entry should be American.?

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., had sought to force a vote in the Senate on a similar proposal, with the issue bubbling toward an election-year boil. Schumer?s provision would bar any American port activities by companies owned by countries that recognized Afghanistan?s Taliban rulers, as Dubai did, before they were overthrown by U.S. forces in 2001.

The House GOP?s action was fueled by Republicans? fears that Democrats would force their own vote on the matter. Republicans worry that could weaken the GOP?s longtime lock on the issue of national security.

The House move by Bush?s fellow Republicans was a direct challenge to a president who is at a low point in his presidency and to a White House that has been accustomed to getting its own way. It also comes during an election year, and as voter disapproval over the Bush administration?s decision allowing DP World to control some U.S. port operations shows no signs of abating.

?The president?s position is unchanged,? Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, told reporters before the House vote while traveling on Air Force One with the president to New Orleans. ?We?re continuing to work closely with Congress. We recognize that some members have concerns. The lines of communication are open.?

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and many of his rank-and-file ? including DP World critics ? want to wait for the administration to finish its 45-day investigation into security risks before deciding whether to try to scuttle the company?s plan in that chamber.

During a pre-vote Wednesday meeting in his Capitol Hill office, Frist warned Treasury Secretary John Snow that ?the president?s position will be overrun by Congress? if the administration fails to aggressively and clearly communicate with lawmakers during the 45-day period, a Frist aide said.

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private among Snow, Frist and several GOP committee chairman. The Treasury Department oversees the multi-agency committee that initially approved the DP World takeover.

Republicans said it was possible that senators would pass a simple symbolic statement in the next few weeks that would put the Senate?s view of the takeover on record without interfering with it.

Some senators said the House was acting prematurely because of the heat Republicans were taking from their constituents.

?To kill the deal without a comprehensive solution to port security is just living for the political moment,? said Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

John Warner, R-Va., the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman who supports the administration?s position, said he would use the next few weeks to try to persuade his colleagues to allow the DP World takeover to go forward.

However, Warner, speaking before the House panel voted, acknowledged supporters ?are few and far between.?

On the House floor, Democrats failed for the second time in a week to force a debate and vote on legislation that would require congressional approval of the takeover after a 45-day security investigation.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress have assailed the Bush administration for its decision to allow DP World to purchase Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation, a British company that holds leases at several U.S. ports.