Foreign Investment Can Be Balanced Against National Security

The Dubai ports deal demonstrated to the nation that the current system to vet foreign acquisitions of businesses in the U.S. does not do enough to automatically safeguard our national security. The fact that commercial operations at some of our busiest ports were acquired by a foreign government without Congress knowing and without the administration raising any red flags was astonishing.

This legislation, HR 5337 which was introduced by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), would strengthen the security safeguards in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States review process, including implementation of a mandatory 45-day review for all deals that include a foreign government. It is also important to note that this bipartisan bill balances the need to ensure that the CFIUS process properly considers national security concerns against the need to encourage beneficial foreign investment. It is based in large part on recommendations of the GAO issued before the Dubai Ports World debacle and has broad support.