White House hastens to brief lawmakers on ports deal

The White House is stepping up efforts to brief lawmakers about the decision to allow Dubai Ports World to manage operations at several U.S. seaports, hoping to counter what it believes is unwarranted concern about the deal among Republicans and Democrats.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said briefings were occurring Wednesday and would continue over the next several days, and he blamed what he characterized as poor media coverage of the deal with inflaming opposition.

McClellan said the White House should have spoken to lawmakers earlier, especially in light of mischaracterizations in the press about the scope of the United Arab Emirates-based company's control over the ports.

McClellan acknowledged that President Bush was only made aware of the deal "over the last several days." The matter did not rise to the president's level earlier, McClellan suggested, because there was no controversy among the agencies reviewing the deal, each of which had signed off on it.

In addition, the intelligence community performed an assessment and determined the arrangement did not pose a national security threat. McClellan indicated that Bush this week asked each Cabinet member whose agency was involved in reviewing the deal if they are "comfortable" with the transaction, and each said they were.

McClellan described Dubai Ports World as a well-known entity with business around the world. He said the firm, as part of the deal, had signed agreements committing it to enforcing standards under the Container Security Initiative and the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism.

Meanwhile, Dubai Ports World has hired former Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole, R-Kan., to lobby members of Congress opposed to the deal, CNN reported Wednesday. Dole works at the Alston & Bird lobbying and law firm in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, in a speech in Washington, Bush Wednesday called for the United States to steer clear of "protectionist policies" in responding to the outsourcing of jobs to India, saying it was necessary instead to educate people for the jobs of the future.

"It's true that a number of Americans have lost jobs because companies have shifted operations to India," Bush said. "But rather than respond with protectionist policies, I believe it makes sense to respond with educational policies to make sure that our workers are skilled for the jobs of the 21st century."

Bush, who leaves next week for a trip to India and Pakistan, nevertheless also called for India to continue to lift caps on foreign investment, make regulations more transparent and lower tariffs. Bush also pledged to provide India with alternative fuel technology to help it reduce its reliance on imported oil.

"We will share these promising energy technologies with countries like India, and as we do so, it will help reduce stress on global oil markets and move our world toward cleaner and more efficient uses of energy," he said.