US lawmakers were losing hope of being able to block the controversial takeover of operations at several US ports by a United Arab Emirates-owned firm, with the deal becoming final on Thursday. Members of Congress from both parties kept up their attacks against the impending 6.8 billion dollar sale of the British firm which manages the ports to Dubai Ports World, citing security concerns.
They conceded, however, that they are powerless to prevent the sale from going forward, and placed their hope in an 11th-hour intervention by US President George W. Bush.
"He's the only one that can stop it," Democratic US Senator Frank Lautenberg told AFP Wednesday.
A firestorm has erupted over DP World's plan to purchase Britain's Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which currently manages six US ports. The US public has come out strongly against the deal, as have several lawmakers.
Getting the White House to scuttle or even delay the deal seemed highly unlikely however, since the president in the strongest possible terms has expressed his support for it.
"If there was any doubt in my mind, or people in my administration's mind, that our ports would be less secure and the American people endangered, this deal wouldn't go forward," Bush said Tuesday.
State-owned DP World voluntarily put a 45-day hold on the US portion of the acquisition to give time for a congressional review, but the delay does not impede the acquisition, which is become final on Thursday.
"While the administration has agreed to a 45-day review of the transaction, it appears that once the sale closes on March 2, the administration may lose its legal authority to block it," Senator Hillary Clinton's office said on her website.
A senior official at DP World told a US Senate hearing Tuesday the deal was too far advanced to be undone.
"We are not in a position now to stop this," said Edward Bilkey, chief operating officer of DP World in testimony to the US Commerce Committee.
Administration officials said that contrary to public fears, the US Coast Guard and Customs Service would still be in charge of security when DP World takes over management of terminals in Baltimore, Maryland; Miami, Florida; New York; New Jersey; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
But lawmakers -- particularly opposition Democrats -- kept up their assault on the plan, saying it reflected the administration's lackadaisical approach to homeland security generally.
"Port security under the Bush administration is full of holes," Representative Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference Wednesday.
"The administration's backroom port deal with Dubai sheds light on the insecurity of our ports," said Pelosi, the top Democrat in the Republican-led House of Representatives
"One hundred percent of the cargo containers going into a terminal in Hong Kong are inspected, while only about five percent of the containers entering the United States are screened. Who thinks that's a good idea?" she said.
Representative Sherrod Brown said lawmakers at this point were looking ahead.
"We want to make sure that these kinds of mistakes don't happen again," he said, touting legislation he has sponsored requiring a systematic homeland security review of future major trade agreements.
Lawmakers in both parties and in both chambers of Congress have introduced, or planned to introduce, a variety of measures to ensure that port sales or management changes from now on are subject to rigorous oversight.
Lautenberg said he planned to introduce legislation Thursday that would give port authority managers the right to veto a port lease or property transfer if they fear a potential security breach.
Pelosi said Democrats were proposing another bill requiring that 100 percent of cargo be screened and sealed before being allowed on US territory.
"Not only before it comes to our ports, but before it goes through our waterways as well," the top House Democrat said.
