97silverlsc
Dedicated LVC Member
Congress to gut foreign ownership security bill
http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=45B8E648-E0C3-F08F-955BF8340FF3266D
The Financial Times reports that "After months of debate about how to reform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (Cfius), the Treasury-led panel that reviews such [deals like the Dubai ports acquisition], most insiders say legislators will pass a law that resembles [a] House proposal, which has been endorsed by the business community, or do nothing." Put another way, after every Republican politician dove in front of cameras to feign outrage at U.S. national security assets being sold off to foreign countries, Congress is prepared to do little or nothing.
Here are the details of the competing proposals in Congress:
"The House bill would force Cfius – which was lambasted for approving the sale of five US port terminals to Dubai-based DP World – to conduct mandatory 90-day investigations of all sensitive acquisitions by foreign state-owned companies. It would also require Cfius to notify relevant congressional committees once investigations into a deal are closed. The Senate proposal, backed by Richard Shelby, banking committee chairman, and criticised by some of his fellow Republicans, would require Congress to be notified of a deal following the initiation of an investigation – even if the deal was not yet public – and could extend an investigation from a maximum of 90 days to 120 days."
The "business community" supports the House bill over the Senate bill because it forces the Bush administration to tell Congress about acquisitions and investigations only after they have been completed. That's Washington-ese for "the House bill guts the key provisions of the Senate bill" - that is, it guts the congressional disclosure provisions that would provide the real national security safeguards and oversight. And as the Financial Times notes, we're expected to feel lucky if Congress passes this weak proposal, because there's also a chance Congress will do absolutely nothing.
Republicans in Congress and the White House have made their position clear: the profits of their corporate donors are more important to them than national security, even in the post-9/11 world. No matter how many times George W. Bush stands behind a podium and babbles on about "freedom" and his supposed commitment to securing America against terrorism, all you have to do is look at what's actually going on in Washington to know that all of that rhetoric is a fraud. Let's hope that in the stretch run of the 2006 election season, Democrats pound this reality home.
http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=45B8E648-E0C3-F08F-955BF8340FF3266D
The Financial Times reports that "After months of debate about how to reform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (Cfius), the Treasury-led panel that reviews such [deals like the Dubai ports acquisition], most insiders say legislators will pass a law that resembles [a] House proposal, which has been endorsed by the business community, or do nothing." Put another way, after every Republican politician dove in front of cameras to feign outrage at U.S. national security assets being sold off to foreign countries, Congress is prepared to do little or nothing.
Here are the details of the competing proposals in Congress:
"The House bill would force Cfius – which was lambasted for approving the sale of five US port terminals to Dubai-based DP World – to conduct mandatory 90-day investigations of all sensitive acquisitions by foreign state-owned companies. It would also require Cfius to notify relevant congressional committees once investigations into a deal are closed. The Senate proposal, backed by Richard Shelby, banking committee chairman, and criticised by some of his fellow Republicans, would require Congress to be notified of a deal following the initiation of an investigation – even if the deal was not yet public – and could extend an investigation from a maximum of 90 days to 120 days."
The "business community" supports the House bill over the Senate bill because it forces the Bush administration to tell Congress about acquisitions and investigations only after they have been completed. That's Washington-ese for "the House bill guts the key provisions of the Senate bill" - that is, it guts the congressional disclosure provisions that would provide the real national security safeguards and oversight. And as the Financial Times notes, we're expected to feel lucky if Congress passes this weak proposal, because there's also a chance Congress will do absolutely nothing.
Republicans in Congress and the White House have made their position clear: the profits of their corporate donors are more important to them than national security, even in the post-9/11 world. No matter how many times George W. Bush stands behind a podium and babbles on about "freedom" and his supposed commitment to securing America against terrorism, all you have to do is look at what's actually going on in Washington to know that all of that rhetoric is a fraud. Let's hope that in the stretch run of the 2006 election season, Democrats pound this reality home.