Remember the shells and bean game? Hide a bean under a nutshell, rapidly move the shells around, then ask "Where's the bean?" Are the American people unwittingly involved in a shells and bean game with much greater stakes: our national security vs. our American ideal of non-discrimination? The status of the acquisition of the operation of 6 American ports remains murky today, just hours before the scheduled turnover to the United Arab Emirates' government's corporation, DP World. The turnover of the ports is scheduled for this Friday, March 2nd, despite congressional calls for Mr. Bush to intervene. Today Mr. Bush renewed his support for ports deal. This means that he sees no threat to our national security as a result of the United Arab Emirates operating American ports. Bush's unwavering support for the transfer to the UAE puts him at odds with lawmakers of both parties and congressional houses. Yesterday, a bi-partisan group of Senators, including Senators Boxer (D-CA), Clinton (D-CA), Coburn (R-OK), Coleman (D-MN), Collins (R-ME), Durbin (D-IL), Lautenberg (D-NJ) Menendez (D-NJ), Mikulski (D-MD), Reed (D-RI), Santorum (R-PA), and Snowe (R-ME) co-sponsored emergency legislation introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY). The bipartisan emergency bill sought to:

• Require the President to place a stay on DP World’s takeover of P&O ports.
• Require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) commence an immediate 45-day investigation on the takeover’s effects on national security. The bill also requires CFIUS to coordinate with other agencies, such as the Coast Guard, and to take in to consideration past security assessments of ports operated by DP World.
• Require the Secretaries of Homeland Security and the Treasury to prepare a full report and brief members of Congress on their findings.
• Upon receiving the report, Congress would have the authority to disapprove the sale within thirty days.

The bill was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), Committee Chair, in early October warned: "The Treasury Department [which chairs CFIUS] may believe that the process is sufficiently transparent...This is the United States Senate committee with jurisdiction over the process in question, and we most certainly do not agree." His statement underscored deep reservations about the process by which investigations of foreign takeovers are conducted. The issue has become a power struggle between Congress and the White House, according to the report. Bush's renewed endorsement of the UAE takeover prior to the comprehensive inquiry mandated by law and negotiated between Congress and the White House undercuts the deal by presupposing the outcome, and not delaying the ports' transfer to the United Arab Emirates administered by the Treasury Department until after the legal requirements of the Exon-Florio provision of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 are met. It also raises the question of whether the CFIUS can reach an objective assessment of the risk to our national security, given the clear expectation of their boss at the White House. Mr. Bush made his statement of support after the Department of Homeland Security disclosed that it initially objected to the sale of operations, and on the heels of the Coast Guard revealing "concerns weeks ago that, because of U.S. intelligence gaps, it could not determine whether the UAE company, DP World, might support terrorist operations." John Negroponte, national director of intelligence, and a fellow member with Mr. Bush in the secretive Skull & Bones society, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that "We didn't see any red flags come up in the course of our inquiry." Given Mr. Bush's stated support of the deal, he is betting our national security on the UAE, a nation that funded terrorists, laundered funds for them, and supplied two of the 911 terrorists. Unless we act quickly to convince Congress to Save Our American Ports – SOAP it, and SCRUB THE DEAL.