Business Groups Commend House Action on Proposed CFIUS Reforms to Enhance National Security

Washington, D.C. - Four leading U.S. business groups today commended the House Financial Services Committee for voting favorably on the "National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2006," H.R. 5337. Today's action paves the way for floor consideration of the bill by the full House. The groups indicated their belief that this is an important bill that will safeguard our national security, while protecting jobs here at home and opportunities for American businesses abroad.

Articulating their support, Business Roundtable, The Financial Services Forum, the Organization for International Investment and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stated that this bill takes prudent steps to improve the process for vetting foreign investments in the United States in a way that does not become so unwieldy and uninviting that valuable investment from abroad is discouraged, hurting jobs and economic growth. Such investment supports over 5 million American jobs with an annual payroll of $318 billion.

The groups stressed the importance U.S. business places on restoring confidence in the review process employed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and detailed several provisions in H.R. 5337 that the business community would actively support, including:

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

Together, Business Roundtable, The Financial Services Forum, the Organization for International Investment and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce represent a broad range of U.S. businesses employing tens of millions of Americans. The organizations recognize the critical importance of foreign investment to both the U.S. economy and to the over five million American jobs it supports.

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