McCaskill opposes port deal; Talent also has questioned it

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill said Saturday she was opposed to a Bush administration deal that would allow a United Arab Emirates company to take over significant operations at six major U.S. ports.

Following public and congressional concerns about the deal, President Bush's administration said it would conduct a new, 45-day investigation of plans by Dubai-owned DP World to purchase London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the current ports operator.

But McCaskill said the new review is not necessary and the deal should simply be scuttled.

"It doesn't take 45 days to figure out this country does not have the security record that would warrant this contract," McCaskill said.

McCaskill, currently the state auditor, is challenging Republican Sen. Jim Talent, who also has questioned the ports deal.

Talent, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a Feb. 20 statement calling on the U.S. treasury secretary to investigate the deal.

"This strikes me as a very dangerous move," Talent said in the written statement. "I have to question the decision."

McCaskill suggested Talent's statement wasn't strong enough.

"Jim Talent has said he questions it. I don't question it; I'm opposed to it," McCaskill said.

Talent spokesman Rich Chrismer said Saturday evening that Talent "disagrees with the administration" and was concerned the Homeland Security Department was not consulted enough on the decision.

"Senator Talent doesn't play politics with national security issues," Chrismer said. "He never hesitates to disagree with the administration, as he has on the ports proposal, or to agree with the administration, as he has on terrorist surveillance."

Chrismer was referring to the Bush administration policy of monitoring calls and e-mails of terror suspects -- without court approval -- when one party to the communication is in the United States and the other is overseas. McCaskill has said the administration broke the law by not getting a court order for the surveillance.

Former Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., who lost both legs and an arm while serving in Vietnam, praised McCaskill's position on the ports deal, saying the UAE has too many connections to terrorists. He said it would be "insane" to let a UAE company operate American ports.

"That is not homeland security, that's homeland insecurity," Cleland told reporters at the Democrat Days event, where he was the keynote banquet speaker.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Thursday that the Bush administration's new investigation would be "too little, too late." He pledged "to do everything I can to kill the deal."

But Republican congressional leaders want to wait for the results of the administration's new investigation of DP World before considering legislation to delay or block it on security grounds.