President George W Bush vowed today to veto any attempt to block an Arab company's takeover of management of major US seaports, defying members of Congress who insisted the deal posed security risks.
Setting the stage for a showdown, Mr Bush brushed aside objections from Republicans and Democrats, including likely 2008 presidential contenders, to reassert his backing for a takeover covering six shipping terminals.
US President George W Bush speaks to reporters rejecting congressional pressure to step in and suspend an Arab company's takeover of operations at major US seaports.
"After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush told reporters aboard Air Force One. If Congress passed a law to stop the deal, "I'll deal with it with a veto," he said.
Mr Bush said the Dubai firm would not be in charge of security, that the deal had been thoroughly reviewed and the country would be no less safe as a result of the transaction. Dubai is a US ally, he said.
The question of whether state-controlled Dubai Ports World of the United Arab Emirates should be allowed to control the ports has sparked a political storm for Bush at a time when he is struggling to boost sagging public approval ratings.
His fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill joined Democrats in questioning whether the company could be trusted to guard the ports at a time of terrorism. Arab-Americans said bias and bigotry, not security concerns, lay behind the uproar.
With mid-term congressional elections looming in November, Republican leaders appeared willing to confront their lame duck president to prevent Democrats from gaining traction on the issue of national security, something the Republicans under Bush see as their strongest political card.
Seeking to defuse the controversy, Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, set a meeting tomorrow for a briefing by Bush administration officials on the ports deal.
Senate Republican leader Bill Frist and House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert added their voices to the outcry against the decision to allow the Dubai company to run the ports in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.
Concerns about the vulnerability of US ports have grown since the September 11 attacks.
"If the administration cannot delay the process, I plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review," Frist, a Tennessean and potential 2008 presidential contender, said in a statement.