Thread: Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administrati

Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administration
BY MICHAEL MCAULIFF
New York Daily News

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/ ... 922695.htm

WASHINGTON - The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.

Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and who was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.

The ties raised more concerns about the decision to give port control to a company owned by a nation linked to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

"The more you look at this deal, the more the deal is called into question," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who said the deal was rubber-stamped in advance - even before DP World formally agreed to buy London's P&O port company.

Besides operations in New York and Jersey, Dubai would also run port facilities in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Baltimore and Miami.

The political fallout over the deal only grows.

"It's particularly troubling that the United States would turn over its port security not only to a foreign company, but a state-owned one," said western New York's Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee. Reynolds is responsible for helping Republicans keep their majority in the House.

Snow's Treasury Department runs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which includes 11 other agencies.

"It always raises flags" when administration officials have ties to a firm, Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., said, but insisted that stopping the deal was more important.

The New York Daily News has learned that lawmakers also want to know if a detailed 45-day investigation should have been conducted instead of one that lasted no more than 25 days.

According to a 1993 congressional measure, the longer review is mandated when the company is owned by a foreign government and the purchase "could result in control of a person engaged in interstate commerce in the U.S. that could affect the national security of the U.S."

Congressional sources said the president has until March 2 to trigger that closer look.

"The most important thing is for someone to explain how this is consistent with our national security," Fossella said.

The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.

Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and who was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Kind of makes you want to go Hmmmmm......
There are no American companies to run the ports??

Ever wonder when the sell out of America started and where and when CFIUS came to be?


http://www.treasury.gov/offices/interna ... on-florio/


Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT


EXON-FLORIO PROVISION

Introduction. The United States has traditionally welcomed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and provided foreign investors fair, equitable and nondiscriminatory treatment with few limited exceptions designed to protect national security. The Exon-Florio provision is implemented within the context of this open investment policy. The intent of Exon-Florio is not to discourage FDI generally, but to provide a mechanism to review and, if the President finds necessary, to restrict FDI that threatens the national security.

The Exon-Florio provision is implemented by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS"), an inter-agency committee chaired by the Secretary of Treasury. CFIUS seeks to serve U.S. investment policy through thorough reviews that protect national security while maintaining the credibility of our open investment policy and preserving the confidence of foreign investors here and of U.S. investors abroad that they will not be subject to retaliatory discrimination.

The Statute. Section 5021 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 amended Section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to provide authority to the President to suspend or prohibit any foreign acquisition, merger or takeover of a U.S. corporation that is determined to threaten the national security of the United States. The President can exercise this authority under section 721 (also known as the "Exon-Florio provision") to block a foreign acquisition of a U.S. corporation only if he finds:


(1) there is credible evidence that the foreign entity exercising control might take action that threatens national security, and


(2) the provisions of law, other than the International Emergency Economic Powers Act do not provide adequate and appropriate authority to protect the national security.


To assist in making this determination, Exon-Florio provides for the President or his designee to receive written notice of an acquisition, merger or takeover of a U.S. corporation by a foreign entity. Once CFIUS has received a complete notification, it begins a thorough review of the notified transaction. In some cases, it is necessary to undertake an extended review or "investigation." An investigation, if necessary, must begin no later than 30 days after receipt of a notice. Any investigation is required to end within 45 days.

Information provided by companies contemplating a transaction subject to Exon-Florio is held confidential and is not made public, except in the case of an administrative or judicial action or proceeding. Nothing in section 721 shall be construed to prevent disclosure to either House of Congress or to any duly authorized committee or subcommittee of the Congress.

Factors To Be Considered. The Exon-Florio provision lists the following factors that the President or his designee may consider in determining the effects of a foreign acquisition on national security. These factors are:


(1) domestic production needed for projected national defense requirements;


(2) the capability and capacity of domestic industries to meet national defense requirements, including the availability of human resources, products, technology, materials, and other supplies and services;


(3) the control of domestic industries and commercial activity by foreign citizens as it affects the capability and capacity of the U.S. to meet the requirements of national security;


(4) the potential effects of the transaction on the sales of military goods, equipment, or technology to a country that supports terrorism or proliferates missile technology or chemical and biological weapons; and


(5) the potential effects of the transaction on U.S. technological leadership in areas affecting U.S. national security.


Amendments. Section 837(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993, called the "Byrd Amendment," amended Section 721 of the Defense Production Act (the "Exon-Florio provision"). It requires an investigation in cases where:


o the acquirer is controlled by or acting on behalf of a foreign government; and


o the acquisition "could result in control of a person engaged in interstate commerce in the U.S. that could affect the national security of the U.S."


Legislative Cite. Section 721 of Pub. L. 100-418, 102 Stat. 1107, made permanent law by section 8 of Pub. L. 102-99, 105 Stat. 487 (50 U.S.C. App. 2170) and amended by section 837 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993, Pub. L. 102-484, 106 Stat. 2315, 2463.

CFIUS

Executive Order. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") was originally established by Executive Order 11858 in 1975 mainly to monitor and evaluate the impact of foreign investment in the United States. In 1988, the President, pursuant to Executive Order 12661, delegated to CFIUS his responsibilities under Section 721. Specifically, E.O. 12661 designated CFIUS to receive notices of foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies, to determine whether a particular acquisition has national security issues sufficient to warrant an investigation and to undertake an investigation, if necessary, under the Exon-Florio provision. This order also provides for CFIUS to submit a report and recommendation to the President at the conclusion of an investigation.

In 1993, in response to a sense of Congress resolution, CFIUS membership was expanded by Executive Order 12860 to include the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. In February 2003, the Department of Homeland Security was added to CFIUS. This brought the membership of CFIUS to twelve under the chairmanship of the Secretary of Treasury. The other members are the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Commerce, the Attorney General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Regulations. The Exon-Florio provision requested that the President issue implementing regulations. These regulations were issued in 1991. They set up a voluntary system of notification with the possibility of CFIUS member-agency notice for non-notified transactions. The President retains full authority to protect the national security with respect to any acquisition covered by this statute, regardless of whether the parties file a notification.

The Exon-Florio regulations do not define national security. The preamble to the regulations provides guidance that products, services and technologies important to U.S. defense requirements would be significant to national security. Even though notification is voluntary, CFIUS would consider notification of these transactions appropriate.

Code of Federal Regulations Citation. Office of International Investment, Department of Treasury -- Regulations pertaining to mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers by foreign persons, 31 CFR Part 800.

Procedures. Treasury, acting at the staff level through the Director of the Office of International Investment in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of International Affairs, acts as the secretariat for CFIUS. It receives and circulates notices to CFIUS agencies and coordinates reviews. Reviews are conducted on a case-by-case basis.

The Exon-Florio statute established a 30-day review following receipt of a notification. For those transactions for which an extended 45-day review (or "investigation") is completed, a report must be provided to the President, who must by law announce the final decision within 15 days. In total, the process can not exceed 90 days. The statute requires the President to inform Congress of his determination of whether or not to take action under section 721.

The parties to an acquisition subject to section 721 may submit a voluntary notice to CFIUS of the proposed or completed acquisition by sending 13 copies of the information requested in part 800.402 of the Exon-Florio regulations to:


Ms. Gay Hartwell Sills

Staff Chair

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS")

Office of International Investment

Department of Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 4201 NY

Washington, DC 20220


Phone: (202) 622-9066

Also: (202) 622-1860


E-Mail: gay.sills@do.treas.gov


################################################## ###############################

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=59192

• Gerald R. Ford
Executive Order 11858--Foreign investment in the United States
May 7th, 1975

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, including the Act of February 14, 1903, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), section 10 of the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, as amended (31 U.S.C. 822a), and section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. (a) There is hereby established the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). The Committee shall be composed of the following:
(1) The Secretary of State.
(2) The Secretary of the Treasury.
(3) The Secretary of Defense.
(4) The Secretary of Commerce.
(5) The United States Trade Representative.
(6) The Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
(7) The Attorney General.
( The Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall be the chairman of the Committee. The chairman, as he deems appropriate, may invite representatives of other departments and agencies to participate from time to time in activities of the Committee.(b) The Committee shall have primary continuing responsibility within the Executive Branch for monitoring the impact of foreign investment in the United States, both direct and portfolio, and for coordinating the implementation of United States policy on such investment. In fulfillment of this responsibility, the Committee shall:
(1) arrange for the preparation of analyses of trends and significant developments in foreign investments in the United States;
(2) provide guidance on arrangements with foreign governments for advance consultations on prospective major foreign governmental investments in the United States;
(3) review investments in the United States which, in the judgment of the Committee, might have major implications for United States national interests;
(4) consider proposals for new legislation or regulations relating to foreign investment as may appear necessary; and
(5) coordinate the views of the Executive Branch and discharge the responsibilities with respect to Section 721(a) and (e) of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2061 et seq.) ("Defense Production Act").
(c) As the need arises, the Committee shall submit recommendations and analyses to the National Security Council and to the Economic Policy Board. It shall also arrange for the preparation and publication of periodic reports.

[Sec. 1 amended by Executive Order 12188 of Jan. 2, 1980, 45 FR 989, 3 CFR, 1980 Comp., p. 131; Executive Order 12661 of Dec. 27, 1988, 54 FR 779, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 618]

Sec. 2. The Secretary of Commerce, with respect to the collection and use of data on foreign investment in the United States, shall provide, in particular, for the performance of the following activities:
(a) The obtainment, consolidation, and analysis of information on foreign investment in the United States;
(b) the improvement of procedures for the collection and dissemination of information on such foreign investment;
(c) the close observation of foreign investment in the United States;
(d) the preparation of reports and analyses of trends and of significant developments in appropriate categories of such investment;
(e) the compilation of data and preparation of evaluations of significant investment transactions; and
(f) the submission to the Committee of appropriate reports, analyses, data and recommendations relating to foreign investment in the United States, including recommendations as to how information on foreign investment can be kept current.

Sec. 3. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, without further approval of the President, to make reasonable use of the resources of the Exchange Stabilization Fund, in accordance with section 10 of the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, as amended (31 U.S.C. 822a), to pay any of the expenses directly incurred by the Secretary of Commerce in the performance of the functions and activities provided by this order. This authority shall be in effect for one year, unless revoked prior thereto.

Sec. 4. All departments and agencies are directed to provide, to the extent permitted by law, such information and assistance as may be requested by the Committee or the Secretary of Commerce in carrying out their functions and activities under this order.

Sec. 5. Information which has been submitted or received in confidence shall not be publicly disclosed, except to the extent required by law; and such information shall be used by the Committee only for the purpose of carrying out the functions and activities prescribed by this order. Information or documentary material filed pursuant to Section 1(b)(5) or Section 7 of this Order shall be treated in accordance with paragraph (b) of Section 721 of the Defense Production Act.

[Sec. 5 amended by Executive Order 12661 of Dec. 27, 1988, 54 FR 779, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 618]

Sec. 6. Nothing in this order shall affect the data-gathering, regulatory, or enforcement authority of any existing department or agency over foreign investment, and the review of individual investments provided by this order shall not in any way supersede or prejudice any other process provided by law.

Sec. 7. (1) Investigations. (a) The Committee is designated to receive notices and other information, to determine whether investigations should be undertaken, and to make investigations, pursuant to Section 721(a) of the Defense Production Act. (b) If the Committee determines that an investigation should be undertaken, such investigation shall commence no later than 30 days after receipt by the Committee of written notification of the proposed or pending merger, acquisition, or takeover. Such investigation shall be completed no later than 45 days after such determination. (c) If one or more Committee members differ with a Committee decision not to undertake an investigation, the Chairman shall submit a report of the Committee to the President setting forth the differing views and presenting the issues for his decision within 25 days after receipt by the Committee of written notification of the proposed or pending merger, acquisition, or takeover. (d) A unanimous decision by the Committee not to undertake an investigation with regard to a notice shall conclude action under this section on such notice. The Chairman shall advise the President of said decision.
(2) Report to the President. Upon completion or termination of any investigation, the Committee shall report to the President and present a recommendation. Any such report shall include information relevant to subparagraphs (1) and (2) of Section 721(d) of the Defense Production Act. If the Committee is unable to reach a unanimous recommendation, the Chairman shall submit a report of the Committee to the President setting forth the differing views and presenting the issues for his decision.

[Sec. 7 added by Executive Order 12661 of Dec. 27, 1988, 54 FR 779, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 618]

Sec. 8. The Chairman of the Committee, in consultation with other members of the Committee, is hereby delegated the authority to issue regulations to implement Section 721 of the Defense Production Act.

[Sec. 8 added by Executive Order 12661 of Dec. 27, 1988, 54 FR 779, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 618]
Citation: John Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database). Available from World Wide Web: ( http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=59192).