Baker - I Was Against It Before I was For It ... Ports Deal

Exerpted From AP Story:

President Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Top of Form
Bottom of Form MichaelChertoff, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and even Treasury Secretary Top of Form Bottom of Form John Snow, who oversees the government committee that approved the deal, all say they did not know about the purchase until after it was finalized. The work was done mostly by assistant secretaries.

Snow now says he may consider changes in the approval process so lawmakers are better alerted after such deals get the go-ahead.

Stewart Baker, a senior Homeland Security official, said he was the sole representative on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States who objected to the ports deal. Baker said he later changed his vote after DP World agreed to the security conditions. Other officials confirmed Baker's account.

"We were not prepared to sign off on the deal without the successful negotiation of the assurances," Baker told the AP.