Washington, DC - 12^th District Georgia Congressman John Barrow (D-Savannah) today released the following statement after the White House announced it had approved the sale of Doncasters Group Limited to Dubai International Capital: 

"It's impossible for Congress to fulfill its responsibility to protect America's national security interests as long as the President, the Treasury Department, and CFIUS continue to make closed-door decisions on questionable foreign investment deals without any meaningful oversight from Congress. 

"Congressional oversight means accountability, and accountability will help make sure that we don't sell off a piece of our military industrial complex today that we wish we had back tomorrow. 

"The President wants us to trust that the right decisions are being made for the right reasons, and that we're not compromising our national security in the interests of foreign investment.  But as President Reagan said, ‘trust, but verify.' 

"It's impossible to trust a process where we can't verify anything about what's going on.  And a process that approves some 1,500 sales involving bits and pieces of our national defense establishment, and blocks only one, doesn't inspire much trust to begin with. 

"Remember, these are the same people who are still arguing that the Dubai ports deal would've actually made us more secure.

"The President needs to provide Congress with the full CFIUS report on the Doncasters investigation, and give us the specifics of the security conditions that the White House says are now included in the approved deal.  Until he does, we'll never know if continuing down this path of selling off our national defense industries will end up hurting us in the long run. 

"If there's nothing to hide, then there's no reason not to release the report. 

"Finally, Congress needs to pass the Protect America First Act.   It would implement the reforms needed to improve national security, without deterring legitimate foreign investment in the United States. And it will move CFIUS where it belongs - to the Department of Homeland Security." 

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Contact: Harper Lawson, (202) 225-2823

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