Yesterday, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 556, the National Security FIRST Act. This legislation strengthens our national security by reforming the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process by which the Federal Government reviews foreign direct investments in the United States for their national security implications.
The roots of this legislation developed a year ago, when the sale of management of six major U.S. ports to the government of Dubai created a firestorm and made all of us examine the way in which foreign direct investment is vetted for national security concerns. As the floor vote yesterday demonstrates, we have developed legislation that protects our national security without avoiding a freeze of beneficial and safe economic activity. I look forward to working with the coalition of House Members including Financial Services Chairman Frank (D-Mass.), Ranking Member Bachus (R-Ala.), Minority Whip Blunt (R-Mo.) and Representatives Pryce (R-Ohio) and Crowley (D-N.Y.) as the Senate develops their bill. It is my hope that the overwhelming vote in the House yesterday is a sign of our ability to work across a broad spectrum of interests to develop a bill that the President can sign into law and which can appropriately reform the CFIUS process.