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Washington, D.C. -- Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) today issued the following statement regarding the controversy over the Bush Administration’s approval of a business deal that would allow a United Arab Emirates-owned company to control operations at 20 American ports:
“It is inappropriate for any foreign government to own or operate any component of our infrastructure that is critical to our nation's security. The unilateral and secretive decision of the Administration to allow the sale of a British-based port operations company controlling operations at 20 U.S. ports to the government of the United Arab Emirates—a country whose financial institutions were used by al Qaeda to help fund its attacks on America—is simply unfathomable.
“The UAE, which owns and controls the acquiring company in this case, has previously been identified as a key transfer point for shipments of nuclear components that were sent to Iran, North Korea , and Libya, which were sold by Pakistan's nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan. In addition, the UAE was one of only 3 countries (including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia ) to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan prior to 9/11. Two of the 9/11 hijackers were UAE nationals (Fayez Banihamrnad and Marwan al-Shehhi), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has previously claimed the money used for the attacks was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers primarily through the UAE’s banking system. Furthermore, after the 9/11 attacks, the Department of Commerce complained of a lack of cooperation by the UAE and other Arab countries as the U.S. was trying to track down Osama bin Laden's bank accounts.
“Today, I have sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking that this decision be reversed, and that the Congress be provided all information pertinent to this issue—including any classified intelligence community assessments that are pertinent. I’ve also asked that he undertake an assessment of all the components of our nation’s critical infrastructure and to coordinate with the Department of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence to evaluate what strategic components should be owned and operated by Americans. The operations and security arrangements at American ports must never be in the hands of a foreign power, particularly any country that has been a known transit point for terrorists or has otherwise allowed its territory or financial institutions to be used by terrorists.”
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