Foreign investors' rail bid examined

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Senators: Group may seek control of CSX

Senators from both parties are calling for an investigation into a move by unknown foreign investors to gain more control of one of the nation's largest railroads, which serves military bases and transports nuclear materials across the country.

The six members of the Senate Banking Committee expressed concern that The Children's Investment Fund (TCI), a London-based group, could be setting the stage for the foreign investors to take control of the CSX rail line. The fund is trying to win five seats on CSX's 12-member board.

The senators' national security concerns hark back to a 2006 controversy over the Bush administration's approval of a deal allowing Dubai Ports World, a Middle Eastern company, to oversee terminals at six U.S. ports. The company pulled out amid congressional outcry.

In the latest controversy, the senators requested an investigation in a letter sent Tuesday to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

"Very little is known about the investors in the TCI group or those investors' agenda," the senators wrote. "They are anonymous and invisible to government regulators" and could be fronts for foreign governments.

"We welcome investment in this country," Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., one of the letter's authors, said in an interview. "But we have to make sure these are economic investments and not politically motivated."

USA Today