Press Releases

(Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. (IN-08) released the following statement after voting to update both the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the export control regime in H.R. 5841, the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA):

“In recent years, Chinese investment in the United States has dramatically increased.  At the same time, Americans have become more concerned generally about China’s impact on our national security.  While we do not want to needlessly discourage investment in the United States, we must continue to protect American businesses and consumers through the evaluation of foreign investments, especially by countries such as China, Russia, and state sponsors of terrorism. Given the increased number and complexity of foreign investment deals, it is critical that we modernize CFIUS and close loopholes that could compromise national security - particularly transactions that could release U.S. citizens’ personal data or sensitive information on critical technologies or critical infrastructure.”

Background

CFIUS, an interagency committee chaired by the Treasury Department, exercises the President’s statutory authority to examine a wide variety of transactions that could confer control of a U.S. business to a foreign investor.  H.R. 5841 modernizes and strengthens CFIUS by expanding CFIUS review to include sensitive investments involving countries of special concern, as well as certain real estate transactions located in close proximity to U.S. military installations and government sites of national security concerns.  In addition, this bill would update the list of critical technologies through the U.S. export controls process and ensure that CFIUS assesses its resource needs more effectively.