National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2007

Overview


According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) information page, the bill:

Strengthens the review process for approving foreign investment:


 * Requires the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to conduct a 30-day review of any national security-related business transaction.
 * After a 30-day review is conducted, CFIUS would be required to conduct a full-scale, 45-day investigation of the effects the business transaction would have on national security if the committee review results in any of the following determinations:


 * 1) the transaction threatens to impair national security and these threats have not been mitigated during the 30-day review;
 * 2) the transaction is a foreign government-controlled transaction; or
 * 3) the transaction raises national security risks associated with foreign ownership of critical infrastructure and those risks have not been fully mitigated during the review.


 * Requires CFIUS to designate a lead agency in reviewing transactions, such as DOD for defense acquisitions.
 * Requires that every transaction be subjected to an assessment by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and contains provisions to ensure that the DNI has adequate time to conduct the required assessment. It also clarifies that the DNI will have no policymaking role in CFIUS.

Increases accountability:


 * Requires that the Chairman of CFIUS (the Secretary of the Treasury) and the head of the lead agency approve all transactions where CFIUS consideration is completed within the 30-day review period (limiting delegation of approval authority to the Assistant Secretary level).
 * Requires that the President approve all transactions that have also been subjected to the second-stage 45-day national security investigation.
 * Creates a new Assistant Secretary in the Treasury Department who will be charged with CFIUS responsibilities.
 * Requires CFIUS to provide a written certification of each transaction reviewed to congressional leadership, committees with jurisdiction over the transaction, and in cases involving critical infrastructure, Members representing the relevant district/state.
 * Requires CFIUS to file annual reports to Congress that contain information on transactions handled by the committee during the previous year.

Puts the actions of foreign governments under increased scrutiny:


 * Requires that, in cases involving a company that is controlled by a foreign government, that either 1) the Chairman of CFIUS (the Secretary of the Treasury) and the head of the lead agency certify that the transaction poses no national security threat, and this certification may not be delegated below the Deputy Secretary level; or 2) a second-stage 45-day national security investigation of the transaction must take place.

The cost of the bill was estimated at $10 million from 2007 to 2010.

House passes bill
On February 28, 2007, the House passed the bill, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), 423-0.



Prior to the vote, a motion to recommit the bill with instructions (to prevent a vote) failed 193-229.



Senate passes bill with amendment
On June 29, 2007, the Senate passed the bill with an amendment by unanimous consent.

Final approval
The House approved the Senate amendment on July 11, 2007 by a vote of 370-45.



President Bush signed the bill into law on July 26, 2007.