March 8 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush renewed his threat to veto legislation that would block a state-owned Dubai firm's takeover of some terminal operations at six U.S. ports as leaders in his own party prepared a measure to kill the plan.

Republican leaders said the House later today will attach language preventing DP World from assuming control of the U.S. operations of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to an emergency measure that provides $92 billion for military operations in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.

The House plans to pass the funding bill next week. If the Senate follows suit, the president will use his first veto to reject it, his spokesman said today. ``The president's position is unchanged,'' Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with Bush in Gulf Coast states ravaged by Katrina in August.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Republican leaders felt it necessary to block to deal to bolster homeland security. ``We want to protect Americans,'' Hastert, an Illinois Republican, said. ``We have a point of view on this, and we're going to move forward.''

Democrat Charles Schumer of New York sought to force the issue in the Senate today by offering an amendment to kill the ports deal to an unrelated measure involving lobbying reform.

The administration approved the transaction in January after a 30-day review. DP World, owned by the Dubai government, agreed to a new 45-day review of the transaction because of congressional criticism. The Bush administration urged Congress to delay judgment of the deal until that probe is finished.

`Educating' Lawmakers

Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president, said DP World is talking to all parties, and the White House is talking with the company ``through intermediaries.'' Those talks involve how to comply with the 45-day investigation and ``educating'' lawmakers on such issues as ownership and security, he said.

Bartlett declined to discuss whether the White House had an exit strategy or was even considering one. ``We're in the middle of this process, not the end of the process, so I'm not going to predict any exit strategy,'' Bartlett said in an interview. ``We're going to articulate our position on this.''

Bartlett said the focus was on performing a thorough, 45- day investigation, while simultaneously meeting with House and Senate leaders ``to find an appropriate path forward.''

``We understand the feelings are really strong on this subject, and that's why it's imperative that we do our job as best we can'' in the new investigation, he said.

Asked if the White House could offer anything to quell a rebellion among key Republicans in Congress, Bartlett said the first obligation was to ensure a thorough investigation, while being open to demands in Congress to update the Treasury Department foreign investment law.

Frist Won't Comment

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, declined to comment today on what the Senate might do. He said earlier he wouldn't support advancing legislation on the ports deal until after the 45-day review is complete.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will consider the emergency spending bill later this month, and the full Senate will act on it in April before the 45-day review is finished, Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said.

Thad Cochran of Mississippi, who chairs the appropriations panel, said today that the House language on the DP World deal ``makes it more likely that someone will offer an amendment on that subject to this supplemental bill either as we consider it in committee or when it gets to the floor.''

Senate Strategies

Senate critics of the ports deal said they're considering different strategies, ranging from legislation to scotch it to a non-binding resolution showing disapproval to a court case challenging state port authorities' rights to make agreements with companies owned by foreign governments.

Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who heads the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said a proposal requiring DP World to subcontract these operations to U.S. firms ``is worth pursuing and has merit.''

Schumer would go a step further and ban DP World from leasing the facilities. ``It should be a total spinoff, a selling of the U.S. operations,'' he said.

Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, said legislation isn't necessary because the port authority accords are treaties, which must be approved by Congress. ``All these port agreements with wholly owned subsidiaries of foreign governments don't pass constitutional muster,'' he said.

Overseas-based companies operate as many as 80 percent of American terminals, a shift that began when Jimmy Carter was in the White House. DP World would assume P&O leases on container- ship terminals in the ports of New York, Newark, New Orleans, Baltimore, Miami and Philadelphia.

No Changes

DP World doesn't intend to change its plan to allow P&O executives to continue running the U.S. facilities while it completes its purchase of the firm by ``later this week,'' Michael Moore, the company's senior vice president, said.

``We have not discussed making any permanent changes to the legal status of P&O's U.S. operations with government officials or lawmakers,'' Moore said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

DP World Chairman Sultan bin Sulayem said the company is continuing to talk with members of Congress, and questions about security will be satisfied after the 45-day review now under way.

``A lot of people will be very clear what this deal is about,'' he said in an interview on CNN in Dubai. ``We do not compromise on security.''

Lawmakers object because Dubai is one of seven sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates, where two of the Sept. 11 attackers came from and whose banks were used by the plotters to funnel money to the operation.

`So Be It'

The company's stance hasn't deterred the deal's opponents.

Lewis, a California Republican, said the House Appropriations Committee will debate the DP World amendment when it considers the supplemental spending bill today.

Lewis said he intends ``to lay the foundation to block the deal,'' and ``if that happens to lead to a veto, so be it.'' He added: ``If that happens to lead to an effort to override it, so be it.''

House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter introduced a measure that would ban foreign ownership of any U.S. infrastructure the defense and homeland secretaries deem to have national security significance.

Senators John Warner, who chairs the Armed Services Chairman, and Ted Stevens, who heads the Commerce Committee, both support the administration's decision to approve DP World's takeover and said Congress should let the investigation proceed before taking legislative action.

Congress ``should let the 45-day review go forward,'' said Warner, a Virginia Republican. ``I strongly believe you have to stop any floor action.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington at jbliss@bloomberg.net; Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 8, 2006 15:17 EST