Admin Failed To Conduct Required Investigation Before Approving Port Deal

[RedEarth]

Administration Failed To Conduct Legally Required Investigation Before Approving UAE Port Deal
In ordinary cases of foreign direct investment the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) first conducts a 30-day “review” of the transaction. After the review, the committee makes a judgment as to whether a 45-day “investigation” is necessary to address national security concerns.

The law, however, was amended in 1993. That amendment makes the 45-day investigation mandatory in cases like the Dubai World Ports transfer. From the CFIUS website:




The Dubai World Ports purchase triggers the automatic investigation. First, the company is “controlled” by a foreign government. Second, it’s undeniable that port operations “could affect the national security of the United States.”


Yet, the investigation never happened. Bush administration officials “could not say why a 45-day investigation did not occur.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/22/legally-required-investigation/

[xiamiam]

1. and not all members of CFIUS even knew (Rumsfeld) or so he says..nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. This isn't just incompetence. It's more of the same corruption.

[Tamarin]

3. Clearly Bush just says whatever his handlers tell him to say:

"I can understand why some in Congress have raised questions about whether or not our country will be less secure as a result of this transaction," the president said. "But they need to know that our government has looked at this issue and looked at it carefully."

[Wickerman]

4. "But they need to know that our government has looked at this issue ..

"But they need to know that our government has looked at this issue and looked at it carefully."

just not accurately.

[nolabels]

11. The "OUR Government" is quite exact for the pirates themselves

I don't give no god damn about about what ever the eff they say. This is not the country I grew up in and I am not giving up any rights, civil or otherwise so foreign countries can run ours. Bush take your fucking worthless cash and shove it up your worthless ass.

A spade is a spade and once an AWOL traitor always an AWOL Traitor.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Wow! Great find, RedEarth! This may explain Jimmy Carter's odd remark

yesterday, that he was sure that Bush "and his subordinates" had done all they should to insure port security in the deal. HE KNEW THIS! I'll betcha! I'll betcha! Everybody was trying to figure out why he said it--and with such emphasis on "subordinates."

Do you have any idea if this is known by Feinstein or others against the port deal? Has it been published anywhere? It needs to get to Senators, and to the war profiteering corporate news monopolies, pronto. A media blast. I have to go to work, and can't do it. Can you do at least one call--to Feinstein's office (unless you know they know)?

-------

Edit: I just re-read your post. Where did you get the info that "Bush administration officials 'could not say why a 45-day investigation did not occur'"? Sounds like this is already known by Senate investigators. Is it? (--they "could not say" to WHOM?) Any url?

[RedEarth]

8. Here's the link

I forgot to add it to the orginal post....

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/22/legally-required-investigation/

[KoKo]

6. Congress just repealed the "Byrd Amendment two weeks ago....so if

the "investigation" was done before the repeal of the amendment then I guess it would still stand. If Bushies waited until the Byrd Amendment was repealed then they "rushed it through" in last couple of weeks.

Are you sure the Byrd Amendement applied to UAE deal?

[Peace Patriot]

7. The "Byrd Amendment" is the same as the amendment in the OP?

You mean, Bush's "pod people' in Congress reversed this mandatory 45 day review just two weeks ago?

[KoKo]

10. No....it's a different Amendment so OP's Amendment does look like

it would catch the Bushies.

Here's the info on the Byrd Amendment Congress dumped and it's very different. It's about WTO Regulations:

The Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA or the so-called “Byrd Amendment”), signed into law in October 2000, provides that proceeds from anti-dumping and countervailing duties shall be paid to the US companies responsible for bringing the case at the origin of the measure.

The enactment of this legislation raised immediate and widespread concerns not only in the EU but in the whole WTO membership, as it imposes a double hit on dumped or subsidised imports and provides a direct financial incentive in filing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints. The EU and ten other WTO members (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Thailand) brought a complaint to the WTO dispute settlement system. This unprecedented joint action is a clear indication of the important systemic concerns that the legislation raises.

[blogslut]

9. Plus...

The Committee on Foreign Investment falls under the onus of the US Dept. of Treasury. John Snow is Secy. of the Treasury. He's also the former CEO of CSX Corporation. A CSX division, CSX Worlds Terminals, was sold to Dubai Ports World in 2004:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x489192