Cardin & Ruppersberger Tour the Port of Baltimore and Meet with Customs Officials to Review Port Operations

(Baltimore, MD)- Congressman Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) toured the Port of Baltimore and met with officials from the Customs and Border Protection Agency at the Port of Baltimore on Monday, March 6, 2006 to review security operations.  Congressman Cardin is the Senior Democrat on the House Trade Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the Customs & Border Protection Agency.  Congressman Ruppersberger is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and is a co-chair of the Congressional Port Security Caucus.  In addition, the Port of Baltimore is in the Maryland 2nd Congressional District that Congressman Ruppersberger represents in Congress.  

Congressman Ruppersberger has called for Congressional hearings about the potential sale of container operations at the Port of Baltimore to a government owned company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  Congressman Ruppersberger also co-authored a letter to President Bush asking him to stay the sale until a thorough 45 day full review can be conducted.  In addition, the Congressman has also co-sponsored several pieces of legislation that call for a thorough investigation into the deal.  Two of the September 11the hijackers were UAE nationals.  In addition, much of the funding that the hijackers used to carry out their attacks used UAE financial networks. 

“I am here today to gather more facts about the potential sale of container operations to a government owned company from the United Arab Emirates.  I am very concerned about this sale and do not believe we should be gambling with our national security.  We must always protect the safety and security of Maryland families,” said Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD).          

The United States Treasury Department has approved the sale of the Baltimore Port operations from Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P &O) of London, England, to Dubia Ports World, a government owned company from the United Arab Emirates, for a reported $6.8 billion.  P&O currently operates the terminal and manages the unloading and loading of containers at the Seagirt and Dundalk marine terminals.  The company currently employs about 65 employees.

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