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National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2006

Date: July 26, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security


NATIONAL SECURITY FOREIGN INVESTMENT REFORM AND STRENGTHENED TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - July 26, 2006)

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I rise in support of H.R. 5337 and want to add some important history and context to our discussion.

The Omnibus Trade Act of 1988 was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce on which I sit. During its consideration, our committee produced the Exon-Florio provision which determines what can be bought in the United States by foreign entities, and it was included in the final version of the Omnibus Trade Act.

Exon-Florio authorized the President to suspend or prohibit the acquisition of a U.S. corporation by a foreign entity. Responsibility for executing Exon-Florio was delegated to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, CFIUS, the interagency committee that was formed to protect the United States' economic well-being and national security.

In the past, the Energy and Commerce Committee has conducted numerous oversight hearings, aggressively evaluating how well CFIUS has complied with the requirements of Exon-Florio. When the Senate amended Exon-Florio and passed the Byrd amendment in 1993, members of Energy and Commerce were conferees for those provisions.

While I am pleased that the Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a hearing on CFIUS and considered it in open markup, and while we support the legislation, we are disappointed that a number of the provisions we added to the bill are not in the version we are considering today. These are matters of the utmost importance to our economic and national security. As we proceed, I encourage my colleagues to be vigilant and consider these matters carefully.

I look forward to continuing our work in the Committee on Energy and Commerce, consistent with its long-standing involvement with this issue, and working with my other colleagues in the House who have also put much thought and effort into this legislation.

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