Business Groups Commend Today's House Passage of CFIUS Reform Bill

Washington, D.C. – Four leading U.S. business groups today commended the House for passage of the “National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2006 H.R. 5337, with strong bipartisan support. While prioritizing national security, the groups believe this bill will bolster the credibility and stability of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and its national security review process. By so doing, the legislation will help to protect jobs here at home and opportunities for American businesses abroad.

Business Roundtable, The Financial Services Forum, the Organization for International Investment and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce praised the truly bipartisan spirit in which House Members approached this legislation, which yielded a bill that takes prudent steps to improve the process for vetting foreign investments in the United States in a way that would not discourage such investment - which would hurt job creation and economic growth. Foreign investment supports over 5 million American jobs with an annual payroll of $318 billion.
In particular, the groups cite the provisions below as important changes required in the bill that would boost confidence in the CFIUS review process:

Creation of a clear statutory role for the Director of National Intelligence for review of proposed acquisitions;

Providing an extended period for investigation if security issues are not resolved;

Authorizing CFIUS to reconsider previously approved transactions if security agreements are seriously breached;

Requiring acquisitions by foreign state-owned entities to undergo a 45-day investigation period; and

Addition of the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Commerce as Vice Chairs.