Contact: Josh Holly-202.226.3988
Washington D.C. – U.S. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Republican Duncan Hunter (R-CA) today released the following statement in support of the National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act, legislation designed to strengthen the process for judging the national security implications of mergers between foreign and U.S. firms:
“I support the National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act and look forward to working with all interested parties as it moves to conference. We need to move quickly so we can apply it to pending transactions that might undermine our national security.
“I am pleased that this legislation includes several provisions that we worked out in the last Congress. Specifically, it’s important to give the Secretary of Defense greater authority in the review process should it be ascertained that our national security interests are impaired or affected.
“Additionally, I appreciate the willingness of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee to work with us and address new concerns that arose from the Lucent-Alcatel merger, especially the process that monitors and enforces mitigation agreements.
“It is my view that mitigation agreements are only as good as the monitoring and enforcement mechanisms available to guarantee compliance. We need to ensure that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), along with the lead federal agencies, keep a close eye on these transactions during the approval process and in the years and decades that follow. As the legislation stipulates, a fundamental part of CFIUS’ mandate is to monitor and enforce the deals it approves.”
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