Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the nomination of Governor Michelle Bowman to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the nomination of Thomas Peter Feddo as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

First, I will speak about Governor Bowman. Michelle Bowman currently serves as a Governor on the Federal Reserve Board and was the first person to fill the Federal Reserve's community banking seat, after her confirmation last year by a bipartisan vote of 64 to 34. Her current term expires on January 30, 2020, and President Trump has renominated her to the same position for a full 14-year term.

Prior to serving as Governor, she was the State bank commissioner of Kansas from January 2017 to November 2018. She also served as vice president of a Kansas-based community bank, Farmers & Drovers Bank, between 2010 and 2017 and served in a number of government roles.

Confirming Governor Bowman to a new 14-year term will provide the needed stability on the Board.

During her current term as Governor, she has played a crucial role at the Federal Reserve by providing the community banking perspective and highlighting their importance to people, households, and small businesses across this Nation, as well as the U.S. economy broadly. She has also contributed meaningfully toward appropriately tailoring regulations in accordance with S. 2155.

If confirmed, I am confident her experience and skill will continue to benefit the Board in promoting the effective operation of the U.S. economy and serving the public interest. I will be voting in support of Governor Bowman and urge my colleagues to vote in support of her nomination, as well, today.

Turning for a moment to another important issue regarding the Federal Reserve, I want to reinforce that maintaining the independence of the Federal Reserve is of the utmost importance in this country.

The recent remarks made by former New York Fed President Dudley urging the Federal Reserve to sway an election by using monetary policy are incredibly troubling. The job of the Federal Reserve is to provide this Nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. I continue to encourage the Federal Reserve to conduct its monetary policy while remaining independent of politics. Nomination of Thomas Peter Feddo

Mr. President, now I would like to turn to the nomination of Thomas Peter Feddo for Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or what we often call CFIUS.

CFIUS plays an important role in today's investment market by reviewing the national security implications of certain transactions involving foreign investment in the United States. Congress recognized and underscored the importance of this national security job when it repurposed the previous Assistant Secretary slot with passage of FIRRMA last July.

Up until that time, the Assistant Secretary split his time between CFIUS and work on international markets, and, today, the Assistant Secretary for Investment Security is dedicated 100 percent to CFIUS responsibilities.

Mr. Feddo's nomination comes at an important time in history, when China's ambitions forced Congress to reevaluate the reliance of U.S.- China commerce and the laws and regulations governing that connectivity.

FIRRMA expanded the jurisdictional reach of CFIUS to better protect U.S. cutting-edge technology companies from hostile foreign takeover and influence based on a couple of concerns. First, CFIUS did not have visibility into many investments from China that might provide coercive influence over U.S. cutting-edge technology companies. Second, these investments were resulting in technology transfers that could convey capabilities, advancing Chinese economic and security interests while restricting the U.S. military and national security structure from leveraging that technology.

FIRRMA not only increased the bandwidth of CFIUS but also expanded the resources given to it to meet the new level of today's challenges.

The time is now to fill this sensitive vacancy.

Thomas Feddo is the ideal candidate to take up the mantle because he has the keen intellect and natural suspicions of a dedicated financial warrior. He currently leads the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Investment Security in executing Treasury's statutory role as the chair of CFIUS during one of the most trying times that investment markets have seen. For over a year now, he has led the CFIUS team at Treasury, but before that, he put in a 7-year tour at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, where he oversaw implementation and enforcement of some 29 U.S. sanctions programs.

As a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, with a degree in naval engineering, Mr. Feddo served as a lieutenant in the Navy's nuclear submarine force and as an officer at the Navy Antiterrorist Alert Center. Because of his unique experience and his technical education, once confirmed, Mr. Feddo will hit the ground running, moving CFIUS forward in pursuit of its continuing mission to guard U.S. technological leadership from foreign adversaries.

I look forward to continuing conversations with him on opportunities to improve America's foreign investment review system, which requires constant vigilance. I also look forward to working with him on how we can make CFIUS programs more effective and efficient and be a faithful steward of U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Feddo enjoys nearly unanimous support from stakeholders, which speaks volumes to his strong track record of experience and expertise. Thomas Feddo's nomination was advanced by voice vote in the Senate Banking Committee on June 18, 2019, with overwhelming bipartisan support. I ask my colleagues once again to vote to confirm him to this critical post.
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