Senate Passes Final Defense Bill with Brown Provision to Guard against Security Threats from China in Final Defense Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Senate passed the final National Defense Authorization Act with a bipartisan measure worked out between Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), along with Representatives Hensarling, Waters, Royce, and Engel, to strengthen the tools the U.S. uses to block national security threats posed by investments from China and other countries. This provision will ensure the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States – known as CFIUS – is better equipped to handle emerging threats from China.

Brown was appointed to serve as a member of the NDAA Conference Committee. All Senate conferees were members of the Armed Services Committee with the exception of Senators Brown and Crapo, who serve as Ranking Member and Chairman, respectively, of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The House passed the final NDAA last week, and the measure is headed to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

“No country has been more aggressive than China in going after American technology in sectors like aviation, robotics, new energy vehicles, and others where the U.S. has established ourselves as a global leader,” said Brown. “Our bipartisan bill will give CFIUS and our export control agencies the tools they need to ensure that these types of investments don’t slip through the cracks.”

In June, Brown took to the Senate floor to call for the passage of this bill. Brown also thanked Senators Crapo (R-ID), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for their work in passing this bill.

In May, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee passed a CFIUS reform bill led by Brown and Crapo.  It was added as an amendment to the Senate National Defense Authorization Act in the Senate Armed Services Committee, and passed the full Senate in June.   

In the same way CFIUS protects national security, Brown and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have also introduced legislation to protect American jobs and the economy from foreign investments. Last year, Brown and Grassley introduced the Foreign Investment Review Act, which would require review of certain proposed foreign investments for their impact on the U.S. economy and jobs. The Senators’ bill would require a review of certain foreign investments to determine if they are in the economic interest of the U.S.

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