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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawmakers from U.S. steel-producing states on Thursday cheered a decision by Chinese steel company Anshan Iron & Steel Group to back off plans to invest in a U.S. steel plant. "Not only would this venture have set a dangerous precedent further undermining our domestic steel market, but it posed serious national security concerns," Representative Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in a statement. Anshan's decision comes at a time when China has pushed past Japan to become the world's second largest economy and high U.S. unemployment and a huge budget deficit are causing political anxiety in the...

Albert P. Carey, President and CEO Frito-Lay North America 7701 Legacy Drive Plano, Texas 75024 Dear Mr. Carey, I would like to make a proposal for Frito Lay to consider. Please bear with me as I 'Lays' the ground work. If your not aware, New York State is offering 1.2 Billion dollar subsidy for a chip fabrication plant to be located in Saratoga New York. We the citizens of New York, are led to believe this is an effort to bring new jobs to the State –roughly 1,400 jobs. The State has been in lengthy discussions with Advanced Micro Devices...

The Republican Women's Club of Duval, in a straw poll, chose Mitt Romney as the most qualified candidate for vice president for the Republican Party. In the Florida primary, Northeast Florida voted for Romney by a 3-1 margin over John McCain. Immediately after the poll, President Betsy Young called on me to present a resolution urging McCain to select Romney as his running mate. Romney possesses a proven fiscal record at Bain Capitol where he made household names of corporate giants - Staples, Domino's and Office Depot. In 2002, at Salt Lake City, Romney rescued the U.S. Olympics from a...

It was Just announced on Lou Dobbs show that Bain Capital Investment withdrew its application for a proposed take over of 3 com corporation. The company in charge of firewall, and anti-hacking software for the Department of Defense!!! I have never seen Lou Dobbs so elated he called it a victory for American interests, and proof that the system can work when our public servants work in the interest of the American people. It was reported that Bain withdrew the proposal when it became obvious the Committee On Foreign Investment was not going to approve it because it was a...

A draft presidential order on foreign investment in U.S. companies would limit government security reviews and give more power to such pro-business agencies as the Treasury Department, The Washington Times has learned. The draft order is opposed by the Defense, Justice and Homeland Security departments as contrary to the intent of a law created in response to the uproar that killed a bid by a United Arab Emirates company to operate several U.S. ports. A memorandum submitted to Treasury by the opposing departments stated that the new legislation is "security focused" but that the draft executive order for the restructuring...

North American Union to Get Firmed Up in Secrecy at Meeting in Canada "Information is the currency of democracy." Thomas Jefferson American citizens have learned of some secretive groups in the country which are given great autonomy. Some are authorized by our government, but have little oversight, and some have not been authorized by our government, but seize authority just because they can. One example of this is the secretive CFIUS, Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. When the plans to turn over operation of six ports to Dubai Ports World became public, (with no thanks to the...

As the Senate Finance Committee considers President Bush’s nomination of Henry Paulson to be the next secretary of the Treasury, the question is not whether he will be confirmed. That seems assured, as senators in both parties behave like star-struck groupies in the presence of a Wall Street “master of the universe,” whose net worth, from his time as a senior executive of Goldman Sachs, is estimated to be on the order of $600 million. Rather, the question is: Will any of his Senate interlocutors even bother to explore the nominee’s troubling fifteen-year ties to Communist China and the potential...

 The greater threat to our nation's security comes not from Dubai and its pro-Western government, but from Venezuela, where software engineers with links to the leftist, anti-American regime of Hugo Chávez are programming electronic voting machines that will soon power U.S. elections.Congress spent two weeks overreacting to news that Dubai Ports World would operate several American ports, including Miami's, but a better target for their hysteria would be the acquisition by Smartmatic International of California-based Sequoia Voting Systems, whose machines serve millions of U.S. voters. That Smartmatic -- which has been accused by Venezuela's opposition of helping Chávez rig elections...

Congress has been rushing to override the judgment of the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) to allow a company based in the United Arab Emirates to manage the operations of six American ports. Given the polls and media commentary, it is certainly an understandable political reaction. It is also true that the administration could have explained its reasoning on this (and other issues) more artfully. After five years, many congressmen also have built up frustrations about tin ears in the administration. The Dubai Ports controversy, therefore, offered members of both parties a great opportunity to send...

Dubai Ports Worls to divest itself of all American interests

House Appropiations Committe voted to block Dubai deal

The Bush administration said on Sunday it would grant a request by Dubai Ports World for an additional 45-day review of its contested takeover of terminal operations at six major U.S. ports. DP World had said it was seeking further review in order to allay U.S. lawmakers' national security concerns about handing management of the port terminals to a company owned by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. "Upon receipt of the new notification, CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) will promptly initiate the review process and fulfill DPW's request for a full investigation,"...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) today made the following statement regarding the recent Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approved management transfer of six major U.S. seaports to 'Dubai Ports World' of the United Arab Emirates. "Relinquishing management oversight of major U.S. seaports to any foreign company makes little sense when one considers the logical threat this could pose to our national security. The question of foreign ownership of key U.S. businesses is not a new challenge facing our country. Last year I authored a bill and an amendment to the Defense Authorization...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Strong statements by Members of Congress in both chambers, and a vote in the House of Representatives had much to do with persuading the board of directors of Unocal to accept a takeover by Chevron rather than by the Chinese National Overseas Oil Company. On June 30, the House adopted H. Res. 344 stating that "a Chinese state-owned energy company exercising control of critical United States energy infrastructure and energy production capacity could take action that would threaten to impair the national security of the United States." This resolution passed 398-15,...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. "It's unbelievably tone deaf politically at this point in our history," said South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsay Graham on Fox News Sunday February 19. He was speaking about the Bush Administration's willingness to see management of several major American ports turned over to a company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) . But the Senator's complaint could be applied to a much wider variety of economic issues in the international sector that help explain why the American people have such a negative view of President George W. Bush's economic policies....

February 24, 2006JS-4071CFIUS and the Protection of the National Security in the Dubai Ports World Bid for Port OperationsHistory of the Dubai Ports World proposed acquisition of P&OAll members of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) understand that their top priority is to protect our national security, including homeland security. On November 29 of last year, two companies publicly announced a proposed transaction: Dubai Ports World (DPW), a state-owned company located in the United Arab Emirates, proposed to acquire The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), a British firm that operates in a number...

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was not aware a Dubai-owned company was seeking to operate terminals in six U.S. ports and that his agency was leading the review until after the deal's approval, an administration official said yesterday. Mr. Chertoff's spokesman, Russ Knocke, told The Washington Times the issue rose no higher than the department's assistant secretary for policy, Stewart Baker. "[Chertoff] was not briefed up to this until after this story started appearing in the newspapers," Mr. Knocke said. Mr. Chertoff is the third Cabinet official to acknowledge he did not know his agency had signed off on the...

After a 2.5 hour briefing to the Senate Armed Servicess Committee today by CFIUS representatives from various Departments on the facts and details of the UAE port acquisitiong from P&O, Sen Clinton (who will no doubt have company in this) will still introduce legislation bent on stopping the port sale until there is an additional 45 day investigation into potential security risks. CFIUS members, including Robert Kimmitt (Dep Treasure Sec'y), Michael Jackson (Dept DHS Sec'y), Radm Gilour (Asst. Commandant for Prevention), Jayson Ahern (Asst. Commissioner, Customs & Border Protection) were among the plethora of experts willing and able to answer...

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary February 22, 2006 Fact Sheet: The CFIUS Process And The DP World Transaction "If there was any chance that this transaction would jeopardize the security of the United States, it would not go forward. The company has been cooperative with the United States government. The company will not manage port security. The security of our ports will continue to be managed by the Coast Guard and Customs. The company is from a country that has been cooperative in the war on terror, been an ally in the war on terror. The...

Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TREASURYOFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRSOFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT EXON-FLORIO PROVISIONIntroduction. The United States has traditionally welcomed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and provided foreign investors fair, equitable and nondiscriminatory treatment with few limited exceptions designed to protect national security. The Exon-Florio provision is implemented within the context of this open investment policy. The intent of Exon-Florio is not to discourage FDI generally, but to provide a mechanism to review and, if the President finds necessary, to restrict FDI that threatens the national security.The Exon-Florio provision is...

Bush checks Check Point The Sourcefire acquisition will ultimately be referred to the US president, spoiling the numbers. Gitit Pincas    14 Feb 06   20:07 Most of the time, dealing with government authorities - American or Israeli - is not exactly a pleasant stroll in the park. Acquisitions of US companies by Israel ones form an outstanding example. Israeli companies often find themselves producing yet another permit, and yet another professional opinion, and still, months pass, and the final approval is not forthcoming. Ask Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA ; TASE: TEVA). The final straight of the $8.6 billion acquisition...

PCCW Limited      39th Fl., PCCW Tower, TaiKoo Place, 979 King's Rd., Quarry Bay 070, Hong Kong     Phone: +852-2888-2888 Fax: +852-2877-8877 http://www.pccw.com Emerging player PCCW expanded dramatically in 2000 by buying Hong Kong's incumbent phone company, Cable & Wireless HKT. PCCW is now the city's dominant carrier operating 3.5 million phone lines. Formerly Pacific Century CyberWorks, it owns a Hong Kong fiber-optic network and provides Internet services. PCCW's 40%-owned mobile phone joint venture with Australia's Telstra serves 1 million customers in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the region. Telstra and PCCW are cooperating on a global Internet Protocol...

ST Telemedia Has Binding Deal on Global X Mon Jun 2, 4:14 AM ET By Jennifer Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Technologies Telemedia has a binding contract to buy Global Crossing Ltd that forbids the bankrupt telecoms firm from considering an offer from investor Carl Icahn, a source close to the deal said on Monday. On Friday, billionaire Icahn's U.S.-based XO Communications Inc said it offered more than $700 million to buy Global Crossing. That compares to the $250 million that state-controlled telecoms group ST Telemedia has agreed to pay for a 61.5 percent stake in the U.S.-based fibre-optic network,...

Yahoo! News   Sun, Jul 06, 2003 Global Crossing Wins Telemedia Talks Bid Tue Jul 1, 4:26 PM ET By NICK BAKER, Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK - Bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing Ltd. on Tuesday won its bid to continue exclusive talks to be bought by Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. Ltd. The decision, issued in court by Manhattan federal bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Gerber, represents a loss for XO Communications Inc. and other suitors who've been blocked by the court-mandated exclusivity period. The judge agreed to extend that period until Oct. 28. XO, which financier Carl Icahn bought out...

Pentagon to Oppose STT-Global Crossing Deal-SourceTue July 08, 2003 06:18 PM ET By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Singapore Technologies Telemedia's plan to buy a majority stake in bankrupt Global Crossing Ltd. GBLXQ.PK ran into trouble when U.S. officials said on Tuesday the government had national security concerns about the deal. Concerns by the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security could make it difficult for STT, which is owned by an arm of the Singapore government, to complete its acquisition of a 61.5 percent stake in the telecommunications company. Defense Department officials cited national security concerns in a memorandum...

Even with Singapore PM Goh weighing in, ST Telemedia bid may fail because of objections from US security community WASHINGTON - In spite of the intervention by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, it is unclear if a business deal between two major companies in Singapore and the United States will overcome strong resistance by those in America's security community. The sticking point is whether the US will allow a foreign business - Singapore Technologies Telemedia (ST Telemedia) - to take a controlling stake in an American company that handles national security data. Bankrupt US telecommunications giant Global Crossing's fibre-optic network...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has told Congress the administration will allow Singapore Technologies Telemedia to buy a 61.5 percent stake in the U.S. telecommunications firm Global Crossing Ltd.</p> <p>Singapore Technologies is indirectly owned by the government of Singapore, and because of that the administration was required to conduct a review to determine if there were any significant national security concerns in the transaction.</p>

Fri Sep 26, 7:45 PM ET By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Singapore Technologies Telemedia said on Friday it hopes to take control of bankrupt Global Crossing Ltd. in weeks now that U.S. law enforcement authorities have sent a network security pact to communications regulators. The two companies signed the 31-page network security agreement full of safeguards -- like ensuring law enforcement agencies can carry out criminal investigations -- to satisfy security concerns because STT is owned by an arm of the Singapore government. The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) must still approve STT's $250 million purchase of...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: October 8, 2003 David Fiske, 202-418-0513 GLOBAL CROSSING TRANSACTION APPROVED Washington, D.C.-- Consistent with established Commission precedent, today, Global Crossing received approval to transfer control of its FCC authorizations and licenses to GC Acquisition Limited (New GX). In a joint decision, the International Bureau, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureaus) found that grant of the applications would be in the public interest, subject to certain conditions. Global Crossing subsidiaries hold FCC domestic and international Section 214 authorizations, interests in submarine cable landing licenses and certain radio licenses. Through its subsidiaries, Global Crossing,...

ST Telemedia to put extra US$200m into Global Crossing SINGAPORE, : Singapore Technologies (ST) Telemedia will inject another 200 million US dollars into Global Crossing, raising its total investment in the bankrupt US telecoms firm to 450 million dollars, the company said Friday. The extra investments will be used by Global Crossing to pay off loans owed to its creditors who had been originally due to get payments in the form of senior secured notes when ST Telemedia received US regulatory approval to buy a majority stake in the fibre optic cable firm. "Under the amended plan, the 200 million...

2:00PM Slim signals intention to lift stake in Global Crossing (GLBCE) by Mark Cotton NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Global Crossing (GLBCE) soared 26.5 percent to 52-week high of $14.11 after Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and his family signaled their intention to raise their stake in the company, in a public filing received by the Vermont Public Service Board on Wednesday. The filing said Slim Entities Holdings, which brings together the various business interests of the Slim family, would be looking to acquire "an amount greater than 10 percent, but less than 20 percent" of Global Crossing shares. Late...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have decided against filing civil charges against Global Crossing Ltd. founder Gary Winnick following a probe of its accounting practices, his attorney said on Monday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had been expected to announce a settlement with Winnick and three other former Global Crossing executives last week, capping a two-year investigation of the international telecommunications company. Winnick's attorney, Gary Naftalis, said in a statement that the SEC "has determined that no charges should be brought against Gary Winnick. We always believed that the evidence demonstrated that Gary Winnick acted lawfully and properly in...

The federal bureaucracy has made a strategic mistake that threatens to cost the President dearly. The question is not whether the ill-advised decision taken last week by the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (known by its acronym, CFIUS, pronounced syphius) will be undone. Rather, the question is: By whom -- and at what political cost to Mr. Bush? In the latest of a series of approvals of questionable foreign takeovers of American interests, CFIUS has given the green light to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to acquire contracts to manage port facilities...

Feb. 14, 2006 / 16 Shevat, 5766 Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. Port of entry http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | How would you feel if, in the aftermath of 9/11, the U.S. government had decided to contract out airport security to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the country where most of the operational planning and financing of the attacks occurred? My guess is you, like most Americans, would think it a lunatic idea, one that could clear the way for still more terror in this country. You probably would want to know who on earth approved such a plan — and be determined to...

Pols attack IBM-Lenovo deal Three key lawmakers are pressing federal regulators to expand their probe into Lenovo Group Ltd.'s $1.7 billion acquisition of IBM Corp.'s PC division. In a letter Tuesday, Jan. 25, to Treasury Secretary John Snow, House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill., House Small Business Committee Chairman Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., requested an agency briefing on the merger and urged him to withhold approval until they can confer. Hyde's panel poses a particular threat to the deal because it oversees export control issues. "Given the relationship between...

IBM-Lenovo (Chinese front) deal faces US security challenge SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - IBM's proposed $1.25 billion sale of its personal computer business to Lenovo Group of China may be held up by U.S. regulators over national security concerns, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. The report, citing unnamed sources "familiar with the matter" said members of the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, or CFIUS, are concerned that Lenovo employees might be used to conduct industrial espionage.

An important U.S. high-tech manufacturer is shutting down its American operations, laying off hundreds of workers and moving sophisticated equipment now being used to make critical parts for smart bombs to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Insight has learned. Indianapolis-based Magnequench Inc. has not yet publically announced the closing of its Valparaiso, Ind., factory, but Insight has confirmed that the company will shut down this year and relocate at least some of its high-tech machine tools to Tianjin, China. Word of the shutdown comes as the company is producing critical parts for the U.S. Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)...

The US Defense Department has backed down from its proposal to mandate a secretive, national security review of all large foreign acquisitions of American companies, bowing to pressure from within the Bush administration and across the Atlantic. According to people familiar with the dispute, Pentagon officials grudgingly agreed to withdraw the provision - which it had inserted into a draft of the annual defence authorisation bill circulated within the administration - late last week after several agencies, particularly the Treasury and Commerce Department, vehemently objected. The Pentagon wording, which it drafted without consulting other departments, would have required all overseas...