SIRES: MEMORY OF 9/11
NECESSITATES REVERSAL OF PORTS DEAL

(TRENTON) -- Assembly Speaker Emeritus Albio Sires today addressed a special meeting of the Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee, invoking his own personal memories of the 9/11 tragedy in urging the panel to take a firm stand against the proposed sale of some New Jersey port operations to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates.

"It is the memory of that awful day that compels us to discuss this deal that would place some of our port operations in the hands of a company owned by the United Arab Emirates," Sires said. "It is the memory of 9/11 that drives us. Not political pandering. Not ethnic bias. Not some irrational paranoia."

Sires is sponsoring legislation (AR-138) with Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) and Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) that would put the General Assembly on the record in joining the wave of national sentiment against the Bush Administration's decision to outsource some East Coast port operations to Dubai Ports World.

-- A Copy of Assemblyman Sires' Remarks Are Attached --

REMARKS
Speaker Emeritus Albio Sires
Assembly Homeland Security
and Domestic Preparedness Committee
February 27, 2006

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, for allowing me to testify on this important issue.

Four and a half years ago, you and I both stood in disbelief as we gazed upon the Manhattan Skyline from our Hudson County communities and saw the smoking ruins where the World Trade Center once stood.

For days we could look out upon the plume of smoke and ashes rising up from Lower Manhattan, where two glimmering towers once dominated the city's skyline.

It is an image that continues to move me to this day, and I don't think I will ever forget it.

That fiery catastrophe -- and the ungodly terrorist attack that caused it -- has forever changed the way this nation looks at domestic security.

The inescapable fact of the 9/11 experience is that we -- and all of our neighbors -- feel less secure today than when this new century began.

And that is the reason we are here today.

It is the memory of that awful day that compels us to discuss this deal that would place some of our port operations in the hands of a company owned by the United Arab Emirates.

It is the memory of 9/11 that drives us. Not political pandering. Not ethnic bias. Not some irrational paranoia.

How many of us mourned the loss of some New Jersey resident who died in that terrible, terrible tragedy?

How many of us know a rescue worker, fireman or some other first responder who is suffering health problems today because they vainly searched for survivors in the wake of the World Trade Center collapse?

How many of us here vowed four and a half years ago to never -- EVER! -- allow an event like 9/11 to occur in our country again?

Ladies and gentlemen, the reason Democrats and Republicans are united on this issue like never before is because the 9/11 experience united this country like never before.

The news of this ports deal struck a raw nerve in our nation.

It opened wounds not fully healed.

And just like on 9/11, our entire nation finds itself in a state of disbelief.

Americans ask themselves: "What exactly were the people in the White House thinking?"

Why was the approval of this deal kept secret from the American people and the affected states until approval had been given?

According to the White House, even the President was not clued in about the sale until after it was approved. How could something like this happen?

Is our nation really expected to have confidence that the same people who so thoroughly mishandled the Hurricane Katrina response are to be given secret discretion with a deal of this magnitude?

There was no congressional review. No input from local communities or states. And no opportunity for the public to scrutinize this deal before decisions were made.

Madam Chairwoman, if shipping terminals in Baltimore, Miami, Newark, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia were to be turned over to the UAE-owned company, how could Americans ever rest assured that they will be as secure as possible?

The record on the United Arab Emirates is clear.

It is one of only three countries in the entire world to recognize the Taliban.

It is the country that served as a jumping off point for 9/11 hijackers.

And it is the country through which money was laundered to finance the
9/11 terrorists.

Madam Chairwoman, there are compelling reasons why this committee should move full speed ahead with the legislation here today.

I can think of 2,986 reasons -- the reported death toll of the 9/11 attacks.

Let's send a message to the White House and, for that matter, the entire world.

Let's tell them that New Jersey -- and our nation -- have not forgotten.

That we won't turn back the clock.

And that we will do all in our power to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.