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Senator Kerry?
KERRY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing.
This Dubai Ports deal I think has raised a lot of questions in the minds of Americans, obviously, and particularly in the minds of the members of Congress.
I think most importantly it underscores the public's very legitimate concern and our legitimate concern about the overall state of our port security, which is something a number of us have been talking about for a number of years.
We all understand that the bottom line is those containers that come in are not adequately accountable from wherever they're coming. And so there's an enormous issue beyond Dubai, and there's been a lack of willingness to invest in either the technology or the local accountability necessary to achieve that.
But there's also a larger question, or a similarly significant question, about the judgment and the competence and the manner in which this was approved.
This much is clear.
A secretive government committee hastily approved the transaction without conducting the 45-day national security investigation mandated by law.
The Department of Homeland Security, a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, CFIUS, initially raised security concerns but then signed off on the deal despite intelligence gaps cited by a newly released Coast Guard document. So apart from what the chairman says, which is legitimate, that there are alliances and there are these cooperative efforts, there was a process that was not followed and that raises questions. And amazingly, the secretary of homeland security didn't even know about the transaction until it was reported in the press.
The secretary of the treasury says he wasn't involved. The president says he didn't know. Yet he's prepared to use his veto pen for the first time in his presidency over a deal he apparently didn't bother to pay attention to until there was some backlash.
The administration's response to criticism has been to say, "Well, take our word for it that the deal has been vetted and the security considerations have been addressed."
And yet, most recently, a Coast Guard document appears which states that it lacked the most basic intelligence information about D.P., and that flatly contradicts that assertion and is further evidence of the hands-off attitude taken with respect to our ports.
And finally, this morning, the Jerusalem Post reports that the D.P. government-controlled parent company participates in the Arab boycott of Israel, which is inconsistent with everything that we believe in America. So that casts even more doubt on the judgment of the administration officials who claim to have thoroughly investigated D.P. And it clearly calls for further congressional review, which is taking place.
The fact is, the administration did not conduct an exhaustive review of this transaction. It took a pre-9/11 business-as-usual approach to approve a deal with Dubai without adequately ensuring it wouldn't compromise national security in a number of different ways which I'm confident my colleagues will raise in the course of this hearing.
So it's appropriate for Americans to be concerned, and it's appropriate for us to be having these hearings.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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