Agency nominee taking Senate heat (David Sanborn's role in Portgate)

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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/03/03/agency_nominee_taking_senate_heat/?page=full

Agency nominee taking Senate heat
Lawmakers want to know if he had role in port deal

WASHINGTON -- Senate critics of the Bush administration's decision to let a Dubai-owned company operate six US ports say they want to hold a new hearing on the nomination of a former top official of the company to run the US Maritime Administration.

One of the critics, Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said in an interview that he is concerned that the former Dubai Ports World official, David Sanborn, has a conflict of interest in becoming the head of the US Maritime Administration, which describes its vision as fostering ''a maritime system that serves America with American ships and American labor."

Nelson said he wants Sanborn to answer questions about whether he played a role in arranging the deal before being nominated to serve in the Bush administration.

''That sounds awfully close to a conflict of interest to me," Nelson said.

A Bush administration spokesman said, however, that Sanborn played no role in the company's effort to take over the management of ports in New York, Newark, New Orleans, Baltimore, Miami, and Philadelphia.