[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 392 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 392

 To require the disclosure of beneficial ownership by a foreign person 
of high-security space leased to accommodate a Federal agency, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2019

    Mr. Lynch (for himself and Mr. King of New York) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the disclosure of beneficial ownership by a foreign person 
of high-security space leased to accommodate a Federal agency, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Secure Government 
Buildings from Espionage Act of 2019''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the Government Accountability Office has reported that 
        the Federal Government often leases high-security space from 
        private sector landlords;
            (2) the General Services Administration and other Federal 
        agencies with leasing authority are not currently required to 
        collect beneficial ownership information and therefore do not 
        know if foreign owners have a stake in the buildings leased by 
        the agencies, even when the leased space is used for classified 
        operations or to store sensitive data; and
            (3) according to a report of the Government Accountability 
        Office, dated January 2017, that examined the risks of foreign 
        ownership of Government-leased real estate, ``leasing space in 
        foreign-owned buildings could present security risks such as 
        espionage and unauthorized cyber and physical access''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP BY FOREIGN PERSONS OF HIGH-
              SECURITY SPACE LEASED FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Before entering into a lease agreement with a 
covered entity for the accommodation of a Federal agency in a building 
(or other improvement) that will be used for high-security leased 
space, a Federal lessee shall require the covered entity to--
            (1) identify each beneficial owner of the covered entity 
        by--
                    (A) name;
                    (B) current residential or business street address; 
                and
                    (C) a unique identifying number from a nonexpired 
                passport issued by the United States or a nonexpired 
                drivers license issued by a State;
            (2) disclose to the Federal lessee any beneficial owner of 
        the covered entity that is a foreign person; and
            (3) if the Federal lessee is assigning the building (or 
        other improvement) to a Federal tenant, notify the Federal 
        tenant of any disclosure made under paragraph (2).
    (b) Timing.--
            (1) In general.--A Federal lessee shall require a covered 
        entity to provide the information described in subsections 
        (a)(1) and (a)(2) when first submitting a proposal in response 
        to a solicitation for offers issued by the Federal lessee.
            (2) Updates.--A Federal lessee shall require a covered 
        entity to update a submission of the information described in 
        subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) not later than 60 days after the 
        date of any change in--
                    (A) the list of beneficial owners of the covered 
                entity; or
                    (B) the information required to be provided 
                relating to each such beneficial owner.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Beneficial owner.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``beneficial owner'' 
                means, with respect to a covered entity, each natural 
                person who, directly or indirectly--
                            (i) exercises control over the covered 
                        entity through ownership interests, voting 
                        rights, agreements, or otherwise; or
                            (ii) has an interest in or receives 
                        substantial economic benefits from the assets 
                        of the covered entity.
                    (B) Exceptions.--The term ``beneficial owner'' does 
                not include, with respect to a covered entity--
                            (i) a minor child;
                            (ii) a person acting as a nominee, 
                        intermediary, custodian, or agent on behalf of 
                        another person;
                            (iii) a person acting solely as an employee 
                        of the covered entity and whose control over or 
                        economic benefits from the covered entity 
                        derives solely from the employment status of 
                        the person;
                            (iv) a person whose only interest in the 
                        covered entity is through a right of 
                        inheritance, unless the person also meets the 
                        requirements of subparagraph (A); or
                            (v) a creditor of the covered entity, 
                        unless the creditor also meets the requirements 
                        of subparagraph (A).
                    (C) Anti-abuse rule.--The exceptions under 
                subparagraph (B) shall not apply if used for the 
                purpose of evading, circumventing, or abusing the 
                requirements of this section.
            (2) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means a 
        person, copartnership, corporation, or other public or private 
        entity.
            (3) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has 
        the meaning given the term under section 105 of title 5, United 
        States Code.
            (4) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means any 
        Executive agency or any establishment in the legislative or 
        judicial branch of the Government.
            (5) Federal lessee.--The term ``Federal lessee'' means the 
        Administrator of General Services, the Architect of the 
        Capitol, or the head of any Federal agency, other than the 
        Department of Defense, that has independent statutory leasing 
        authority.
            (6) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means an 
        individual who is not a United States person or an alien 
        lawfully admitted for permanent residence into the United 
        States.
            (7) High-security leased space.--The term ``high-security 
        leased space'' means a space leased by a Federal lessee that--
                    (A) will be occupied by Federal employees for 
                nonmilitary activities; and
                    (B) has a facility security level of III, IV, or V, 
                as determined by the Interagency Security Committee.
            (8) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means a natural person who is a citizen of the United 
        States or who owes permanent allegiance to the United States.
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