Furor over ports has grown, despite White House efforts

WASHINGTON -- The White House has spent more than three weeks trying to calm bipartisan outrage in the House and Senate over a Dubai-owned company's efforts to operate some U.S. port terminals.

But opposition to DP World's plan has not just persisted -- it has grown.

Defying President Bush, the GOP-run House Appropriations Committee voted Wednesday to block the United Arab Emirates-based firm from holding leases or contracts at American ports.

"One of the most vulnerable situations facing America is our ports of entry," said Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla. "Whoever's responsible for those ports of entry should be American."

The panel acted without awaiting the outcome of a 45-day review of the DP World takeover's potential security risks, which the administration had agreed to undertake in hopes of extinguishing a political furor.

Across the Capitol, Democrats maneuvered for a vote 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.

Congressional supporters of the deal "are few and far between," conceded Sen. John Warner, R-Va., an administration supporter.

Senate Republican leaders are trying to block a vote on the ports deal through a procedural vote that could occur as early as Thursday. That tactic is likely to fail, which could prompt Republicans to temporarily pull a lobbying reform bill from the floor in order to avoid defeat on the ports measure.

Bush has promised to veto any such legislation Congress passes, but there is widespread public opposition to DP World's takeover and the GOP fears losing its advantage on the issue of national security in this fall's elections.

The White House said the president's position was unchanged.

GOP Senate leaders hope to delay a quick showdown with Bush on the issue, but the House committee, led by members of Bush's own party, showed a willingness to defy him on a security issue in an age of terrorism.

Raising the stakes, the panel attached the ports language to a must-pass $91 billion measure financing hurricane recovery and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The committee was to approve the entire bill late Wednesday and the full House could consider that measure as early as next week.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the administration was concerned that attempts to address the DP World deal in that bill could delay money needed for U.S. troops and for hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast.

"We are committed to open and sincere lines of communication and are eager to work with Congress," she said.

Congressional opponents of the deal hammered away at the security questions they said the ports deal raised.

"This is a national security issue," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and the chairman of the House panel, adding that the legislation would "keep America's ports in American hands."

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio., said allowing the DP World takeover to proceed -- and ignoring the public outcry over it -- would be irresponsible. "The American people elected us to do something when an issue like this comes up," she said.

Only Reps. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., and Jim Moran, D-Va., voted against the measure.

"It is premature, we don't have enough information and ... it may turn out to be unnecessary," Moran said. Added Kolbe: "I just don't think this is the right thing to do."

Twice, anti-war protesters interrupted the committee meeting. They shouted: "this war is illegal," "stop funding this war," and "the blood is on your hands."

The House and Senate developments underscored the extent to which the politically charged issue has come to dominate the agenda in recent days, with Republicans and Democrats competing to demonstrate the strongest anti-terrorism credentials in the run-up to midterm elections.

Republicans worked to prevent a vote in the Senate as an aide to Majority Leader Bill Frist said the Tennessean warned Treasury Secretary John Snow "the president's position will be overrun by Congress" if the administration fails to aggressively and clearly communicate with lawmakers during a 45-day review that is in progress.

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private among Snow, Frist and several GOP committee chairmen. 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 coming weeks that would put the Senate's view of the takeover on record without interfering with it.

But by mid-afternoon Wednesday, with the Senate debating legislation to respond to a corruption scandal involving lobbyists, Democrats signaled they wouldn't be satisfied with a weak provision.

Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada told reporters he was prepared to let the lobbying reform bill languish if necessary.

Senate Republicans accused Schumer of subterfuge in the way he sought to inject the issue into the debate, pointing to a letter earlier this month in which he and other Democrats said they would refrain from seeking immediate legislation.

Schumer and fellow Democrats brushed that aside, with Reid calling the maneuver "absolutely valid."

The political context was unmistakable. Democrats circulated a pollster's memo claiming that recent events had "dramatically reduced" the GOP advantage on national security.

Some GOP senators accused the House of 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

On the House floor, Democrats failed for the second time in a week to force a debate and vote on separate legislation that would require congressional approval of the takeover for it to take effect 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.