[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 35 (Thursday, March 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     NATIONAL SECURITY FOREIGN INVESTMENT REFORM AND STRENGTHENED 
                        TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2007

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                               speech of

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 28, 2007

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, as you know, I was a strong supporter of 
H.R. 5337, the National Security Foreign Investment Reform and 
Strengthened Transparency Act of 2006, which passed the Financial 
Services Committee as well as the House in the 109th Congress. First, I 
want to again acknowledge the work of our distinguished chairman of the 
Committee of Financial Services, Mr. Frank and Mr. Gutierrez, chairman 
of the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, 
Trade and Technology for supporting this bill. Let me also thank Ms. 
Maloney, a member of the Subcommittee on Domestic and International 
Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology, for again introducing this 
important national security legislation, H.R. 556. In addition, the 
bill now has more than 50 co-sponsors.
  Last year, the House approved a comprehensive set of reforms to the 
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process. 
It is a testament to the diligence of Ms. Maloney and other members of 
the Committee on Financial Services that H.R. 556 is being considered 
so early in this session.
  It has been almost a year since we learned of the Committee of 
Foreign Investment's (CFIUS) activities related to Dubai World Ports 
and the implications of the proposed deal for national security. I can 
genuinely say that the members of the Committee on Financial Services 
have been most directly involved in this issue since that time.
  The bill the House passed last year, H.R. 5337, was designed to 
reform the CFIUS process based on the information gleaned from earlier 
hearings on the subject. We have heard about the negative impact of 
cutting off foreign direct investment in the U.S. However, it would be 
foolish to assume that we would take any such steps to prohibit foreign 
direct investment. At the same time, we need to consider safeguards to 
ensure that the CFIUS process is consistent with the original intent of 
the Congress concerning national security and investments.
  It is time that CFIUS operated within the law, and that it is made 
clear who is responsible for what in the decisionmaking process. 
Another critical issue is how decisions are actually made, and what 
entity is principally responsible for protecting the national security 
interests of this Nation as they pertain to foreign direct investment.
  This bill enables CFIUS to unilaterally initiate a review where an 
issue of concern is raised; any foreign government backed deal would be 
subject to review; both the Secretaries of the Treasury and Homeland 
Security must sign off on reviews, while the Homeland Security 
Secretary would be vice-chair of the Committee; and all reviews are 
subject to review by the Director of National intelligence.
  In addition, everyone knows that transparency and accountability 
were, in part, at the heart of the congressional uproar over the Dubai 
World Ports deal. Importantly, H.R. 556 like its predecessor bill 
requires that CFIUS report biannually to Congress on its activities. 
This is strong legislation that will only make Congress' job less 
difficult on the issue of national security and foreign direct 
investment.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 556 without any weakening 
amendments. Unfortunately, there are those who would have you believe 
that the bill in not balanced. I would submit that the bill represents 
a comprehensive well-balanced measure in view of the global situation. 
Indeed, this bill will not undermine foreign investment in the U.S.

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