WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House said Wednesday that critics of a deal that would let a United Arab Emirates company manage six U.S. seaports are "misinformed," but conceded it should have consulted Congress earlier.
The administration’s blessing of the purchase of Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation, which currently runs those ports, by the state-owned Dubai Ports World has sparked a firestorm of opposition on Capitol Hill.
President Bush has defended the deal and threatened to use the first veto of his presidency on any congressional attempt to block it.
A federal committee that oversees international investment approved the deal, and White House spokesman Scott McClellan repeated Bush’s reassurances that the security of those ports would remain in the hands of the U.S. government.
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