Senator Bill Frist is the highest ranking member of the Senate so far to call for the Bush administration to delay a deal that would allow the takeover of six U.S. seaports by a United Arab Emirates company:

"The decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold until the administration conducts a more extensive review of this matter," said Frist. "If the administration cannot delay this process, I plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review."

"I'm not against foreign ownership," said Frist, "but my main concern is national security." He was speaking to reporters in Long Beach, Calif., where Frist was doing a fact-finding tour on port security and immigration issues.

Sen. Frist, and the other senators and congressmen who are coming forward with concerns about this deal, are to be commended.

The president is reported to be threatening a veto against any legislation which would delay or stop this deal. I think this highly unwise, and this has the potential to set the stage for a confrontation between himself and many of his supporters, the likes of which have not been seen since the Harriet Miers debacle. Mr. Bush has not come forward and publicly, despite intense political uproar during the last few days over this proposed deal, communicated to the American people why this deal is a good one, and more importantly why it will not in the slightest compromise America's national security.

Because port security is so important to the prevention of the entry of either terrorists or their weapons to this country, it is incumbent upon the President to fully explain this deal to the American people. Until and unless he does, it is the Congress's duty to stop this deal from going forward.