http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=515647&mesg_id=523665Sen. John Kerry's letter:
The Honorable John Snow, Chair
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
Office of International Investment
Department of Treasury
Dear Mr. Secretary:
I write to you in your capacity as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regarding the review and approval of the sale of Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Navigation Company to Dubai Ports World (DP). As you know, this sale would give DP, a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates, significant operational control over six major US ports.
Specifically, given the national security implications of this sale, I am concerned about the process by which this transaction was approved by CFIUS. First, it appears that CFIUS approved the sale as expeditiously as possible, without even using the additional 45 day investigation process that was clearly warranted under the circumstances.
Further, several media reports have cited ties between Administration officials and DP that raise questions about the basis for the approval of this sale by CFIUS. As you know, the CSX rail corporation, where you previously served as Chief Executive Officer, sold its port operations to DP in 2004. Moreover, the President's nominee for Administrator of the Maritime Administration, David Sanborn, was DP's Head of Operations for Latin America while this transaction was being reviewed by CFIUS. In light of these connections, Congress needs to learn more about the relationship between CFIUS members and DP, and whether Administration officials could have unduly influenced CFIUS's approval process..........
Sen. Chris Dodd’s letter:
The President
The White House
Dear President Bush:
I write to express my concerns regarding Treasury Secretary John Snow's involvement in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' (CFIUS) approval of the acquisition of Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Navigation Co.'s (P&O) U.S. port operations by DP World. As you know, DP World is owned and controlled by the Government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Prior to joining the Treasury Department in February 2003, Secretary Snow spent approximately twenty years working at the CSX Corporation, including as Chairman and CEO. According to press reports, Secretary Snow received $72.2 million in compensation from CSX in 2003 (including $33.2 million from a special retirement pension), and he has a stake in a CSX deferred compensation plan worth between $5 million and $25 million. In December 2004, after Secretary Snow's departure from CSX, that company's port business was purchased by DP World in a deal worth more than $1 billion. It is unclear whether Secretary Snow was involved in any discussions related to that sale before his resignation from CSX in 2003.
There may have been no actual conflict in Secretary Snow's involvement in the CFIUS process related to the review of DP World's proposed acquisition of P&O's U.S. port operations. However, given the highly sensitive nature of this matter it would have been better had Secretary Snow not been the Chair, or served in any capacity, of the CFIUS review in this case...........
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