Jim Moran on Dubai Ports Deal

I always disagree with my US representative, Jim Moran. It’s one of the main reasons I’m on his mailing list. Well, I got an email from him last night that blew my mind because I completely agreed! Here’s what he had to say.

Transcript of Remarks by Congressman Jim Moran on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, The Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (House of Representatives – March 15, 2006)
Mr. MORAN VA:

Well, I thank my good friend from Maryland. I have no illusions about the results of this vote, it’s going to be pretty much proportionate to the 62-2 vote that we took in the full appropriations committee. But I want to share with my colleagues why this is the wrong thing to be doing.

The fact is that Dubai is our natural bridge to the modern, peaceful and progressive Arab world. And with this amendment, instead of crossing that bridge, we blow it up. The fact is that we currently have over 600 ships that are using Dubai, U.S. Naval vessels. We have more than 77,000 military personnel who take leave in Dubai. We’ve never had a security incident. In fact, more U.S. military personnel take liberty, port leave in other words, in the United Arab Emirates today than in any other place in the entire world. The U.A.E. wants to be our friend. They want to invest some of those petro dollars back in the United States. They want to trade with Israel. They want to trade with europe. They want to trade with the United States.

They’re under a lot of political pressure, but the Emirs are standing up to that pressure. Couldn’t we be expected to do the same? Are we going to yield to the fear and the prejudice that I think motivates this amendment? Because it’s not reasoned judgment. In fact the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is conducting — was to be conducting a 45-day federal investigation. Then we would be able to make an informed decision. At the end of that investigation they were going to make recommendations.

But the reality is there aren’t a whole lot of things that need to be changed with this transaction. It’s a financial transaction. U.S. longshoremen still handle the cargo. The U.S. Coast Guard provides physical security. The customs service inspects the cargo and in fact, it was the U.A.E. who was first to sign the U.S. container security initiative we asked them to. They are doing everything, and my friends, the Director of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Chertoff, said if this deal goes through it will make our ports more secure, not less. Listen to the experts.