Sec. 1702. Sense of Congress

660 words·~3 min read·/bill/115/s/2987/pcs/section-1702

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It is the sense of Congress that— foreign investment provides substantial economic benefits to the United States, including the promotion of economic growth, productivity, competitiveness, and job creation, and the majority of foreign investment transactions pose little or no risk to the national security of the United States, especially when those investments are truly passive in nature; maintaining the commitment of the United States to open and fair investment policy also encourages other countries to reciprocate and helps open new foreign markets for United States businesses and their products; it should continue to be the policy of the United States to enthusiastically welcome and support foreign investment, consistent with the protection of national security; at the same time, the national security landscape has shifted in recent years, and so has the nature of the investments that pose the greatest potential risk to national security, which warrants a modernization of the processes and authorities of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and of the United States export control system; the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States plays a critical role in protecting the national security of the United States, and, therefore, it is essential that the member agencies of the Committee are adequately resourced and able to hire appropriately qualified individuals in a timely manner, and that those individuals’ security clearances are processed as a high priority; the President should conduct a more robust international outreach effort to urge and help allies and partners of the United States to establish processes that parallel the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to screen foreign investments for national security risks and to facilitate coordination; the President should lead a collaborative effort with allies and partners of the United States to strengthen the multilateral export control regime to more effectively address the unprecedented industrial policies of certain countries of special concern, including aggressive efforts to acquire United States technology, and the blending of civil and military programs; any penalties imposed by the United States Government with respect to an individual or entity pursuant to a determination that the individual or entity has violated sanctions imposed by the United States or the export control laws of the United States should not be reversed for reasons unrelated to the national security of the United States; and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States should continue to review transactions for the purpose of protecting national security and should not consider issues of national interest absent a national security nexus.

It is the sense of Congress that, when considering national security risks, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States may consider— whether a transaction involves a country of special concern that has a demonstrated or declared strategic goal of acquiring a type of critical technology or critical infrastructure that would affect United States technological and industrial leadership in areas related to national security; the potential national security-related effects of the cumulative market share of or a pattern of recent transactions in any one type of infrastructure, energy asset, critical material, or critical technology by foreign persons; whether any foreign person that would acquire an interest in a United States business or its assets as a result of a transaction has a history of complying with United States laws and regulations; the extent to which a transaction is likely to expose, either directly or indirectly, personally identifiable information, genetic information, or other sensitive data of United States citizens to access by a foreign government or foreign person that may exploit that information in a manner that threatens national security; and whether a transaction is likely to have the effect of exacerbating or creating new cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the United States or is likely to result in a foreign government gaining a significant new capability to engage in malicious cyber-enabled activities against the United States, including such activities designed to affect the outcome of any election for Federal office.