But the seduction process appears under way. And I must say that while this committee has usually functioned in a very bipartisan fashion, I am distressed that the request of our ranking member for a witness list that was not so overwhelmingly one-sided was rejected.
We will have nine witnesses today, eight of whom will be ardent proponents of the deal. Now, we expect that from the Administration. What troubles me is out of the five non-Administration witnesses, there are two who take intellectual positions, one on either side, and then three other witnesses, all of whom are professionally involved in advocating for foreign trade.
Now, that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, advocating for foreign trade. But if you're trying to have a reasonable hearing, then to have all three of those witnesses be people who have a professional interest in this, one an attorney. Again, perfectly honorable, but he practices before CFIUS. The likelihood that he would be at all critical seems to be rather low.
Then we have the Foreign Trade Council and the Organization for International Investment. Frankly, I don't even think FOX News would claim that this was fair and balanced.
So I really regret the one-sidedness of the witness list, and I know that our ranking member asked for some more balance. Secondly, I want to address the issue that well, this is going to cause us problems, some of this criticism, with our allies in Dubai and in the United Arab Emirates. Although I must say that the argument that we should not be treating the Emirates any differently than England seems to me to be totally fallacious. The President said that.
Now, I am a strong supporter of the Visa Waiver Program. I fought hard to get Portugal involved. Britain, you can come to America from England without a visa. I don't want Dubai in that program. Does that make me a bad guy? I don't think I am prejudiced. I can think of a lot of other areas there. I am offended by their participation so eagerly in the boycott of Israel.
And I think we have a right to differentiate, and maybe not in this particular case. But to treat all countries the same when they have very different policies? Frankly, I am particularly upset that right now, the United Arab Emirates is sending 12 men to jail because they happen to be gay. And that doesn't happen in England. Now, that may or may not in the end be relevant, but it is one of the things you take into account.
But the central point I want to make here is that this seems to me, sadly, to be the latest example of incompetence on the part of this Administration. I agree it is regrettable that we are in this public debate involving the United Arab Emirates, which in some ways has been constructive and helpful, although they're subject to pressures. That is the President's fault. That is the fault of the people who let this go through.
In October, when Dubai approached the United States and said, "We want to buy the company that will run the ports," did none of you say, "You know, this might not be the best time to do that"? This political furor was entirely predictable. It is regrettable, but it was predictable.