Washington, DC -- Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee, spoke on the House floor today to oppose the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement.  His prepared remarks are below:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Oman Free Trade Agreement.  Make no mistake, this vote is not a vote on whether or not you support free trade.  This is an up and down vote on whether or not you support our national and homeland security. 

“Just 5 short months ago, the Bush Administration tried to ram through an approval of the sale of U.S. port operations to Dubai Ports World, a company owned and operated by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  The President said he’d veto any attempt to strike down the deal; but in the face of tremendous opposition on the grounds of homeland security by Democrats and even some Republicans, the deal was scuttled.

“The whole episode shined a bright light on a little-known committee at the Treasury Department and the secretive process it uses to make decisions that can have important consequences for the security of our nation.  The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) should now be operating in the harsh reality of a post 9-11 world, which requires national and homeland security concerns to come before global economic concerns. 

“But in this post 9-11 world, we cannot simply trust, as this free trade agreement requires us to do, that the businesses and government of Oman are pure and will not sabatoge, abuse, or misuse critical infrastructure they decide to buy in a business deal fast-tracked by this agreement.  We must trust, but verify, when it comes to ANY foreign government-owned entity buying critical infrastructure in the United States. 

“The President and his administration did not give the Dubai Ports deal the scrutiny it deserved, even though the 9-11 Commission identified the government of the UAE as a “persistent counterterrorism problem.”  The UAE was a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Libya.  The UAE was one of only three nations to recognize the legitimacy of the Taliban government and still does not recognize the State of Israel. 

“We know that our seaports, airports, and other critical infrastructure are at the very top of Al Qaeda’s terrorist target list.  Let’s not give them a hand in penetrating the operations of those critical targets by fast-tracking business deals in the name of a free trade deal that has no protections for our national and homeland security.  Commerce must not be permitted to trump common-sense.”