During the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party’s self-declared “China Week,” the House passed more than two dozen pieces of legislation addressing threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party. The bills included multiple updates to the export control regime. Details inside.
The BioSecure Act appears to be advancing, and may come up for a vote in the fall. The proposal would restrict government contracts with entities that use biotech equipment or services from Chinese “companies of concern.” Details, key provisions, potential “scope creep,” and more are inside.
Last week, three U.S. Representatives proposed a bill that would increase Congressional oversight of CFIUS, and would “help identify loopholes that fall outside the jurisdiction of CFIUS.” The bill would require CFIUS to notify Congress why a transaction was not reviewed. Details, context, impact inside.
A U.S. Senator has introduced a bill that would force CFIUS to respond to inquiries from governors about transactions within state borders. The proposal runs counter to FIRRMA and current practice, and raises questions about the states’ role in national security, just as the states ramp up activity. Details inside.
Well, that didn’t take long. Fresh on the heels of a GAO report about flawed data regarding foreign agricultural transactions in the U.S., a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders have proposed a bill that would improve the tracking of foreign investment in farmland. Details, draft inside.
Last week, a bipartisan group of 43 Congressional leaders delivered a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, recommending a stronger outbound screening regime. The letter was immediately followed by one from House Finance leaders, questioning the sanity of the move.
Last week, six Republican U.S. Senators introduced legislation that would require CFIUS member agencies to conduct annual reviews of the military, intelligence, and national laboratory facilities that should be considered “sensitive sites” for national security purposes. Details, context, bill inside.
By our count, at least ten bills have been floated that would add the Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS. Last week, one of them cleared a House Committee. Also inside: The re-introduction of a bill that would expand the authority of CFIUS for deals impacting important personal information.
Setting aside the new Executive Order on outbound foreign investment, the U.S. Senate has approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to add mandatory notification of certain investments in adversarial nations such as China. Details and the amendment are inside.
Congressional leaders have just proposed a bill that would include a “presumption of non-resolvability” by CFIUS related to real estate transactions by foreign adversaries near sensitive sites. In other words, the Committee would have to assume that any national security concerns cannot be resolved.
Several legislative proposals were floated by Congressional leaders last week related to foreign ownership of farmland, one of which would expand an existing tax on foreign land sales by 400%, and another that would address Chinese investments in greenfield initiatives. Details inside.
A proposed provision in the bipartisan Intelligence Authorization Act would extend CFIUS’s real-estate jurisdiction beyond military bases. The proposal would add foreign real-estate transactions in close proximity to “sensitive sites,” such as intelligence agencies and national labs. Details inside.