US senators assail port outsourcing to Arab firms

Democratic senators assailed an Arab company's takeover of operations at six major American ports and said Monday that US President George W. Bush should stop the deal to better protect the US from terrorists. "We wouldn't turn over our customs service or our border patrol to a foreign government," New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez said during a news conference. "We shouldn't turn over the ports of the United States, either." Menendez said he and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would introduce legislation prohibiting the sale of port operations to foreign governments.