Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl says he'll join a number of lawmakers maneuvering to sink a White House plan to put an Arab company in charge of managing some American ports.

"Just as we don't farm out security for our airlines or for our airports, we should not be farming out security for our ports, and so I will oppose it, and I believe the president is not going to succeed," says Kohl.

The White House says President Bush did not learn about the plan to put a company from the United Arab Emirates in charge of half a dozen American ports until it hit the media.

But the President says the firm from the UAE poses no more security risk than the British company it wants to replace.

White House spokesperson Scott McClellan says, "this is about the principle, and the principle is we shouldn't be holding a Middle Eastern company to a different standard that a British company."

The White House says the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs will still patrol our ports, but visiting Madison Wednesday night, Senator Kohl tells NBC 15 News the middle eastern company would still have some security responsibilities.

The UAE was the home country of two of the 9-11 hijackers and Kohl says a company based there shouldn't have anything to do with American port security.

Some leaders of the Republican party are also opposed to the President's plan.

The President says he'll veto any congressional plan to block the proposal.