We need to reform the CFIUS process. We need to make it stronger and more open to Congressional review. We need to ensure that it reflects the risks of the post-9/11 world. And most of all, we need to make sure that the American people are protected in their ports and in their trains and anywhere in America. I yield back.
Chairwoman PRYCE. Thank you, Mrs. Maloney. The Chair now recognizes the Chairman of the Full Committee, the Honorable Michael Oxley, from the great State of Ohio.
The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Chairwoman Pryce, and thank you for your leadership to address the Dubai Ports World issue, as well as examining it in the larger context of the CFIUS process and port security in general. I think that over the next few hours, we're going to learn a lot for our committee about the process and how it works. And while many people had an initial strong reaction to the Dubai Ports World acquisition and the company's increased role in port management, we must view this in context. So if this additional 45-day review gives us the opportunity to reexamine the issue and look at the progress that has been made in this area, then that is all for the good.
Certainly, we all welcome the added scrutiny, which will give everyone involved a chance to review the security issues and the status of the cargo shipping system. For instance, I have seen the press reports detailing the Coast Guard's reported concerns about the screening of cargo ship personnel and security of the cargo holds protection system. While they may or may not be directly related to the port management company, certainly we would be wise to give these specific issues further thought and evaluation. My own prediction is that this process eventually will reveal the merits of the President's position, and will show a system that is both efficient and seamless.
The world's cargo shipping system is global and interdependent. We trust our allies and our trading partners, because we all share a mutual interest and a secure system. Great strides have been made in increasing the security and efficiency of the system, which were begun long before the age of terrorism.
Much has been changed since I was on the docks of New York investigating organized crime as a young special agent of the FBI. After all, nearly one third of U.S. ports are managed by foreignbased companies. The role of the management company is to track where the cargo comes from and where it goes. The U.S. Coast Guard is in charge of port security. U.S. Customs Service is responsible for checking those cargoes. U.S. longshoremen handle the cargo and operate the cranes. To assume some connection between the port management company and the content of the cargo misses a great deal about how the system operates.
As far as the CFIUS process is concerned, we should all be reminded that it is not, nor should it be, political in nature. That is a slippery slope, and it would be a mistake to take that step. In our discussions with the Treasury officials who administer CFIUS, they have expressed their willingness to communicate more effectively and more often with this committee and with Capitol Hill. We have discussed informal quarterly briefings, and we at the Financial Services Committee would welcome that.
Now is a good time to think about the tremendous value of foreign investment for the U.S. economy and the message we want to convey to the world. According to the Organization for International Investment (OFII), U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-based companies employ 5.3 million Americans and support an annual payroll of $318 billion, with an average worker's salary of more than $60,000 a year.
Also, according to the OFII, U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-based companies invest heavily in the manufacturing sector. In my own State of Ohio, 208,600 workers are employed by foreign-based companies. We should be welcoming and encouraging foreign direct investment, not shutting it out.
I recommend to the members columnist Thomas Friedman's New York Times column on this issue that he wrote recently. And I quote, "The world is drifting dangerously toward a widespread religious and sectarian cleavage, the likes of which we have not seen for a long, long time. The only country with the power to stem this toxic trend is America."
Let's not be ruled by our worst fears. Let's not close off America, as the terrorists would hope we would. While protecting ourselves against any security threat, let's remember our American values of free trade and fairness and capitalism and the inherent worth of our relationships with other nations. Those are the American ideals we need to export to the rest of the world.
Madam Chairwoman, I want to particularly welcome our first panel, all distinguished gentlemen, three former ambassadors, a former lead individual with the Transportation Department, all with great knowledge not only of the CFIUS process, but the port issues in general. And I can't think of a more qualified and strong group to head this first panel. And with that, I welcome them and yield back the balance of my time.
Chairwoman PRYCE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'd now like to yield for opening statement to the ranking member of the Full Committee, Mr. Barney Frank.
Mr. FRANK. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I am not often moved to poetry in this forum. But a line from a British poem- I regret that neither the author nor the title remains in my mind- is describing a seduction: "Whispering she would ne'er consent, consented." And that appears to me to describe the process in which we are now engaged.
There was a great deal of anger across the political spectrum when this was announced. Indeed, judging from the reactions my Republican colleagues have had on a wide range of other issues, it was not surprising that they reacted so negatively to this process