Thomas Foley: “I rise today to bring to the House's attention a transaction that is being contemplated on five of our major ports, five…”

“I rise today to bring to the House's attention a transaction that is being contemplated on five of our major ports, five important ports of entry in the United States. New Orleans, Miami, Newark, Philadelphia and New York are all being considered as an asset to be transferred to the United Arab Emirates soon after review of the transactional details. I am concerned about this transaction for several reasons. First and foremost, it has occurred under what is called Council for Foreign Investments, as it is known, chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Snow, and multiple agencies of the United States Government to review transactions launched by foreign entities to purchase assets here in the United States. Why am I concerned about the United Arab Emirate's ownership and potential management of our ports of entry, these five strategic ports? For many reasons. Just yesterday, it was reported that the United Arab Emirates was in negotiations urging a more robust trade relationship with Iran. Just yesterday, they were making a decision to move forward with a more robust trading platform with Iran. I am sure most of our colleagues realize that in recent days we have gone to enormous lengths to convince our allies and our friends around the world to put pressure on Iran in order to reduce the likelihood of their using nuclear weapons or building nuclear capabilities.…”