Sanders Questions Administration Officials at Congressional Hearing on the Sale of U.S. Ports to United Arab Emirates
Sanders Questions Administration Officials at Congressional Hearing on the Sale of U.S. Ports to United Arab Emirates
Washington D.C.At a Congressional hearing today in the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Bernie Sanders voiced his strong opposition to the sale of U.S. ports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Representatives from the U.S. Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State, and Treasury testified at the hearing. The deal, proposed by the Bush Administration, would put the operations of more than six major U.S. ports under the control of Dubai Ports World, a state- owned company of the UAE. An additional 45 day review of the project is being conducted, but the sale of the American ports to Dubai Ports World is expected to be completed tomorrow.
Sanders said, "This deal should be put on hold until after the review is completed and Congress has the opportunity to hold an up or down vote. Frankly, I think this deal is a very dumb idea. According to the 9-11 Commission, the UAE had direct connections with Osama Bin Laden before the September 11 attacks. It was also one of only three countries to recognize the Taliban. The FBI has established that money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system and the U.S. Treasury has reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden's bank accounts. This deal has the potential to be a real threat to our national security and it seems to me that we should err on the side of caution and not allow it to go through."
Sanders also pointed out the UAE's abysmal human rights record. The UAE is a non-democratic, authoritarian country that lacks any democratic institutions. In 2005 the State Department threatened to impose sanctions on the UAE if the human rights situation did not improve.
In addition to stopping the UAE sale, Sanders argued that much more must be done to protect our nation's ports. According the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, only 6% of cargo containers entering our country are screened, leaving America's ports particularly vulnerable to terrorist attacks. In fact, some of the nation's top security analysts have predicted that the most likely way for a nuclear bomb to enter the United States is through a cargo container entering one of our nation's ports.
Sanders said, "While we have spent billions of dollars on airport security since 9/11, we have invested very little towards securing our ports. I will continue to do everything possible to ensure that all of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission are implemented and all of our ports are secured."
http://bernie.house.gov/documents/document.asp?issueNum=4799