WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) -- In an election-year repudiation of President Bush, a House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm from taking control of some U.S port operations.
By 62-2, the Appropriations Committee voted to bar DP World, run by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from holding leases or contracts at U.S. ports. Bush has promised to veto any such measure passed by Congress, but there is widespread public opposition to the deal and the GOP fears losing its advantage on the issue of national security in this fall's elections.
As the panel acted, Democrats on the other side of the Capitol were clamoring for a vote on the same issue in the GOP-led Senate.
"We believe an overwhelming majority will vote to end the deal," said Democrat Charles Schumer of New York, whose attempt to force the issue to the floor brought the Senate to a late-afternoon standstill.
By its vote, the House committee attached the ports language to a must-pass $91 billion measure financing hurricane recovery and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The full House could consider that measure as early as next week.
While GOP Senate leaders hope to delay a quick showdown with Bush on the issue, the House panel, including members of Bush's own party, showed a willingness to defy him.
The House move by Mr. Bush's fellow Republicans was a direct challenge to a president who is at a low point in his presidency and to a White House that has been accustomed to getting its own way. It also comes during an election year, and as voter disapproval over the administration's decision to let DP World control some U.S. port operations shows no signs of abating.
"The president's position is unchanged," Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, told reporters while traveling on Air Force One with the president to New Orleans. "We're continuing to work closely with Congress. We recognize that some members have concerns. The lines of communication are open."
Efforts by the Bush administration to quell the controversy have failed. Many Congressional Republicans have election year jitters about the proposed deal, CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports. Criticism has persisted even though the administration reluctantly agreed to conduct a broader investigation into potential security risks of DP World's plans in hopes of stunting a potential Republican revolt.
"The political reality is, if you have three weeks to explain it, and you can't explain it ... it's time to end it," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and many of his rank-and-file — including DP World critics — want to wait for the administration to finish its 45-day investigation into security risks before deciding whether to try to scuttle the company's plan in that chamber.
During a Wednesday meeting in his Capitol Hill office, Frist warned Treasury Secretary John Snow that "the president's position will be overrun by Congress" if the administration fails to aggressively and clearly communicate with lawmakers during the 45-day period, a Frist aide said.
The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private among Snow, Frist and several GOP committee chairman. The Treasury Department oversees the multi-agency committee that initially approved the DP World takeover.
Republicans said it was possible senators would pass a simple symbolic statement in upcoming weeks that would put the Senate's view of the takeover on record without interfering with it.
Some senators said the House was acting prematurely because of the heat Republicans were taking from their constituents.
"To kill the deal without a comprehensive solution to port security is just living for the political moment," said Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
John Warner, R-Va., the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman who supports the administration's position, said he would use the next few weeks to try to convince his colleagues to let the DP World takeover go forward.
However, he acknowledged supporters "are few and far between."
On the House floor, Democrats failed for the second time in a week to force a debate and vote on legislation that would require congressional approval of the takeover after a 45-day security investigation.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been assailing the Bush administration for its decision to let DP World purchase Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation, a British company that holds leases at several U.S. ports.
The underlying $91 billion spending bill the House committee debated includes nearly $68 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $19 billion for hurricane relief and rebuilding along the Gulf Coast. The measure largely adopts Mr. Bush's request for the war, with most money for operations and maintenance, equipment replacement, and personnel costs.
The House measure includes $4.2 billion in hurricane aide that Bush requested for reimbursing homeowners who lost their homes, but does not follow his lead in setting it aside exclusively for Louisiana. |
