Homeland Security giving talk on ports on cspan now.

[rodeodance]

[rodeodance]

1. saying DOD is involved in decision--so WHY not Rummy know?

[rodeodance]

2. He was listing the 12 major Fed agencies on the secret committee.

[rodeodance]

3. Each agency was suppose to assess the sale plus look at any security

concerns.

[rodeodance]

4. now her says 14 agencies involved--Clay Lowery--Assist. Treas. Secretary

[rfranklin]

6. 14 Bush appointees thought hard and said "no problem!"

who would have guessed?

[joanski0]

5. Thanks, rodeo.

Just tuned in.

Baker says they got a promise to continue to participate in the security program.

[Binka]

7. Wanna See Who Is On That Committee? Look Here!

As Treasury secretary, Snow chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which approved the Dubai deal. The panel includes the secretaries of state and homeland security and other administration officials.

And here is some info on the committee and who serves on that committee.


The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") was originally established by Executive Order 11858 in 1975 mainly to monitor and evaluate the impact of foreign investment in the United States. In 1988, the President, pursuant to Executive Order 12661, delegated to CFIUS his responsibilities under Section 721. Specifically, E.O. 12661 designated CFIUS to receive notices of foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies, to determine whether a particular acquisition has national security issues sufficient to warrant an investigation and to undertake an investigation, if necessary, under the Exon-Florio provision. This order also provides for CFIUS to submit a report and recommendation to the President at the conclusion of an investigation.

In 1993, in response to a sense of Congress resolution, CFIUS membership was expanded by Executive Order 12860 to include the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. In February 2003, the Department of Homeland Security was added to CFIUS. This brought the membership of CFIUS to twelve under the chairmanship of the Secretary of Treasury. The other members are the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Commerce, the Attorney General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. ~snip~

From: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT
http://www.treas.gov/offices/international-affairs/exon ... /


So, in addition to Snow (old bio here), the other members that approved this include:

Dr. John Marburger (Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy); Stephen John Hadley (Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs); Allan Hubbard (Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council); Condi, Rumsfeld and Gonzales, Carlos M. Gutierrez (US Secretary of Commerce), Joshua B. Bolten (Director of the Office of Management and Budget), Robert B. Zoellick (United States Trade Representative), Ben S. Bernanke (Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers -- ? -- or his replacement after he became Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System)

Did I miss anyone?

According to the article in the OP, Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security is also part of the committee

[WePurrsevere]

8. Snow? He has ties to the Dubai firm

As discussed on DU here.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/13922695.htm

WASHINGTON - The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.

Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and who was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.

The ties raised more concerns about the decision to give port control to a company owned by a nation linked to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

I keep getting the feeling that these type ties are only the tip of a very large iceberg.