Port Authoritah

This is shaping up to be a real slugfest.

Critics of Arab port deal vow fight - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers determined to capsize the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates said President Bush’s surprise veto threat won’t deter them.

Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports. In a forceful defense of his administration’s earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.

The sale’s harshest critics were not appeased.

“I will fight harder than ever for this legislation, and if it is vetoed I will fight as hard as I can to override it,” said Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. King and Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said they will introduce emergency legislation to suspend the ports deal.

Another Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, urged his colleagues to force Bush to wield his veto, which Bush — in his sixth year in office — has never done. “We should really test the resolve of the president on this one because what we’re really doing is securing the safety of our people.”

Concerns over UAE and al Qaeda aside, what in the world are we doing outsourcing critical infrastructure protection to private, for-profit businesses in the first place? Didn't we see after 9/11 in the case of airport screeners how concern for the bottom line always trumps all other concerns, including security?

Technorati Tags: UAE, Dubai, ports, security, DHS, Bush, veto, King, Menendez