News stories yesterday suggested that the House was poised to pass the Senate version of the CFIUS reform bill today (House may vote on CFIUS reform tomorrow, Ben Muse, July 9).
However, I haven't seen any news stories about passage this evening. The only item I've found so far is this, from UPI: Hunter Fights NSFIRSTA Bill Changes (Jul 10):
WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- A GOP presidential candidate Tuesday said he was opposing a foreign investment regulation bill on national security grounds.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and a conservative candidate for the GOP's 2008 presidential nomination, said in a statement that he "opposed the Senate-passed National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act, legislation which originally passed overwhelmingly in the House but was significantly weakened during Senate consideration."
"Earlier this Congress, we passed strong legislation to bolster national defense concerns during the process for reviewing and approving foreign investment in the United States," Hunter said. "I took to the House floor to encourage my Republican and Democratic colleagues to vote in favor of the National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act so we could go to conference and get it enacted quickly," he said.
"I was pleased that the original House-passed legislation included several provisions that we worked out in the 109th Congress. Specifically, we provided the Secretary of Defense greater authority in the review process to prevent the impairment of our national security interests," Hunter said.
However, "Unfortunately, the Senate-approved legislation that is before us today has been stripped of many of these key provisions, and I can't support its passage," he said. "As approved by the Senate, this legislation would remove the abilities of the secretary of defense and the director of national intelligence to force an investigation of a proposed deal that may have dire national security implications. This would pave the way for another Dubai Ports World fiasco."
Hunter's comments look likely to open a new political battleground in the U.S. Congress over passage of the bill.
and this, Hunter: DOD Needs Teeth to Probe Mergers (July 10):
WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- The Pentagon needs congressional authority to probe business mergers in the interests of national security, a GOP congressman said Tuesday.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and a conservative candidate for the GOP's 2008 presidential nomination, said in a statement Tuesday that changes made by the U.S. Senate to the proposed National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act would rob the U.S. Department of Defense of its needed powers to probe foreign takeovers of, or mergers with, American companies.
"The revised legislation would weaken the current powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, CFIUS, where any CFIUS member, such as the secretary of defense, can prevent approval of a foreign transaction and force an investigation," Hunter said. "The Senate-weakened (House Resolution) 556 would allow only the 'lead agency' to recommend an investigation and would require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to 'concur,'" he said.
The bill in its current form would also "severely weaken the Department of Defense's ability to force an investigation into a proposed merger that could harm national security," he said.
Hunter's opposition means that the Democratic ruling majorities in both the Senate and the House may face a significant fight over passage of the bill. The Senate-weakened H.R. 556 no longer incentivizes consensus within the Committee on Foreign Investment for the United States for approving foreign transactions -- rather, it would make majority approval sufficient. This would pave the way for future Dubai Port scandals since a lone dissenting voice can and will be ignored.
Comments