Senators demand classified briefing on ports deal

Members of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee on Tuesday demanded a classified briefing from the Homeland Security Department on a Dubai company's plan to take over terminal operations at U.S. ports.

Subcommittee members said during a hearing they have concerns about the nation's port security in general, and specifically about a plan from Dubai Ports World, which has proposed buying British firm Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. If the deal goes through, DP World would take over terminal operations at six major U.S. ports.

"I don't go to bed at night thinking we're secure in our port system," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff pledged to give the subcommittee a classified briefing this week. He also said he will be personally involved in a new review of the sale. DP World has said it will ask the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to do a 45-day review of the transaction and its implications for national security.

"I will judge the risk," Chertoff said. "I will look at the assurances that we have obtained and guarantees from the company. I will satisfy myself that these put us in a position to eliminate any material risk with respect to foreign ownership."

Chertoff noted, however, that the company has yet to ask for the new review. The terminal operations sale is scheduled to close Thursday.

Subcommittee chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said he is particularly worried about a Coast Guard report highlighting intelligence concerns over the sale. An unclassified section of the report was released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Monday.

"The administration has totally mishandled the issue; now we're hearing that the Coast Guard doesn't feel they can sign off," Gregg told CongressDaily. "[As] I understand it . . . Homeland Security had initial concerns which were basically later on muted, and so I think there are serious issues here. It's very disconcerting to say the least."

Chertoff said he read the Coast Guard report "about a week ago." But he said the report was only part of an overall analysis of the sale, and the Coast Guard ultimately came to the conclusion that DP World's acquisition would not pose a national security threat to U.S. ports.

Chertoff emphasized that the company has provided "very, very substantial assurances" that federal agencies will have "an unprecedented ability" to monitor its activities and management. The company's employees, for example, will be screened against terrorist watchlists and will undergo background checks.

The Homeland Security Department will have spent about $10 billion on port security since it was created if the administration's fiscal 2007 budget request is approved, Chertoff said.

But Murray said she does not believe the 2007 budget proposal adequately funds port and cargo security. She asked Chertoff if he will support legislation that she and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, proposed last year to make improvements.

Chertoff declined to take a position on the legislation, saying only: "I certainly do not believe that the federal government is finished with port security."

Peter Cohn of CongressDaily contributed to this report.