Chamber Praises House Passage of Bill to Increase National Security While Protecting Foreign Investment

WASHINGTON, DC—The United States Chamber of Commerce praised the House for passing H.R. 5337, The National Security FIRST Act of 2006, a bill that will enhance our national security without jeopardizing foreign direct investment.

"This bill strikes an appropriate balance between keeping Americans safe and protecting the economy," said Bruce Josten, Chamber executive vice president. "It would allow the administration the flexibility it needs to spend time and resources on foreign investment agreements that require the most attention to national security concerns while allowing those that don't to move forward without impediment."

Foreign investment in the U.S. supports more than 5.4 million jobs and promotes economic growth. In 2004, foreign investors poured more than $115 billion into the United
States, providing U.S. firms with capital for expansion of production facilities and resources for increased R&D spending.

H.R. 5337 would codify the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) into law and mandates that it ensure the protection of America's national security, provide regular reporting to Congress, and allow for a clean process for mitigation agreements to be monitored and enforced. More specifically, this legislation would make several changes to the current regulations governing foreign investment:

• It would ensure the right of CFIUS to unilaterally initiate a review of any acquisition at any time.
• All reviews and investigations by CFIUS would require approval by Secretaries of the Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, and Commerce; and would be analyzed by Director of National Intelligence.
• The Departments of Homeland Security and Commerce would serve as Vice Chairs of CFIUS and the Department of Energy would be a permanent CFIUS member.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com

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