I'll admit that my fascination for this story could be due, in large part, to the strong possibility that we can blame yet something else on President Bush.
But still, it seems important to me for whatever the reason.
So.....
You can read more about the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States here:
http://www.treas.gov/offices/international-affairs/exon-florio/ Apparently, this committee was originally created by Executive Order in 1975, and amended in 1988 to include the “Exon-Florio” provision.
This intent of this provision is “not to discourage foreign investment generally, but to provide a mechanism
to review and, if the President finds necessary, to restrict foreign investment that threatens the national security”.
What I
don’t understand here, BTW, is that the purpose of this committee is to “provide authority to the President to suspend or prohibit any foreign acquisition, merger or takeover of a U.S. corporation that is determined to threaten the national security of the United States.”
And, according to this provision, “the President can exercise this authority under section 721 (also known as the "Exon-Florio provision") to block a foreign acquisition of a U.S. corporation.”
Which does
not appear to be the case here.
If I understand correctly what is happening, one foreign company is simply taking over another foreign company, to whom we had sub-contracted the operation of the ports in question.
They are
not taking over a U.S. company.
So while obviously, of course, this whole thing should be reviewed
somewhere along the line, why the transaction is being reviewed by this particular committee escapes me to begin with.
In any case, according to the stories, it
is being reviewed by this Committee On Foreign Investment In The United States, so I guess it’s this committee that we should be holding responsible here.
Anyway, this Exon-Florio provision clearly states that one of the criteria that the president can use in exercising his authority to block such a deal is “(if) there is credible evidence that the foreign entity exercising control might take action that threatens national security.”
It also says that one of the factors that the committee should consider in determining whether or not the transaction should be allowed is whether or not the results of such a transaction leads to “the control of domestic industries and commercial activity by foreign citizens as it affects the capability and capacity of the U.S. to meet the requirements of national security;
All of that said, here are the members of this crackerjack committee:
Secretary of the Treasury (Chairman)
Director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
The Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
The Secretary of State
The Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Commerce
The Attorney general
The Director of the Office of Management & Budget
The U.S. Trade Representative
The Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors
The Department of Homeland Security
Looks like about twelve Bush-appointees out of the twelve members.
