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[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2903 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2903

  To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit the International 
 Stock Index Investment Fund of the Thrift Savings Fund from investing 
 in any entity in peer or near-peer competitor nations as outlined in 
         the National Defense Strategy, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 2019

  Mr. Banks introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit the International 
 Stock Index Investment Fund of the Thrift Savings Fund from investing 
 in any entity in peer or near-peer competitor nations as outlined in 
         the National Defense Strategy, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Blocking 
Investment In Our Adversaries Act''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Federal retirement plans, including the Thrift Savings 
        Plan, invest a total of over $550 billion on behalf of their 
        plan participants. With such an influence, it is critical that 
        U.S. Federal pension plans do not contribute to stock earnings 
        for companies demonstrated to be linked to the economies of 
        peer or near-peer competitors, as outlined in the National 
        Defense Strategy.
            (2) Large sector international companies such as Huawei 
        have repeatedly committed numerous crimes such as corporate 
        espionage, violations of US-imposed sanctions, violations of 
        international property law, and theft.
            (3) The Thrift Savings Plan is the preeminent retirement 
        plan for Federal government employees. The plan is especially 
        beneficial due to its low service fees and high historical 
        returns. The provisions outlined in this Act will not increase 
        fees imposed on clients of the Thrift Savings Plan.
            (4) Congress acknowledges the conflict between fiduciary 
        duties of financial investment firms and the responsibility to 
        ensure national security.
            (5) The November 2017 selection of the MSCI ACWI Index by 
        the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, to be effective 
        in 2020, violates the terms of this Act, as outlined in section 
        2.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON INVESTMENT OF TSP I FUND IN PEER AND NEAR-PEER 
              COMPETITORS.

    (a) In General.--Section 8438(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C) The index selected by the Board under subparagraph (A) may 
not include investments in any stock of an entity based in a peer or 
near-peer competitor, including China or Russia.''.
    (b) Divestiture of Assets.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment 
Board (as established under section 8472(a) of title 5, United States 
Code), in consultation with the manager of the Thrift Savings Fund, 
shall--
            (1) review whether any sums in the Thrift Savings Fund are 
        invested in contravention of subparagraph (C) of section 
        8438(b)(4) of such title, as added by subsection (a);
            (2) if any sums are so invested, and consistent with the 
        legal and fiduciary duties provided under chapter 84 of such 
        title or any other provision of law, divest such sums; and
            (3) re-invest the divested sums in investments that do not 
        contradict such subparagraph.
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