I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4959 

To impose limitations on investment and certain operations by foreign entities 

in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2006 

Mr. TURNER (for himself, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 

LATOURETTE, Mr. NEY, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. HAYWORTH, 

Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. WAMP, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. 

HUNTER, and Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on International Relations and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To impose limitations on investment and certain operations 

by foreign entities in the United States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reciprocity and Fair5 ness in Foreign Investment Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON INVESTMENT AND CERTAIN OPER2 ATIONS BY FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

3 (a) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 (1) ON GOVERNMENT-OWNED ENTERPRISES.— 

5 A foreign person that is owned or controlled by the 

6 government of a foreign country may— 

7 (A) acquire or hold an equity interest, or 

8 other evidence of ownership, in a corporation, 

9 partnership, or other business entity, that is or10 ganized under the laws of the United States, or 

11 (B) acquire or hold any interest in real 

12 property in the United States, 

13 only to the same extent as that foreign country al14 lows United States persons to acquire or hold (as 

15 the case may be) equity interests or other evidences 

16 of ownership in comparable business concerns orga17 nized under the laws of that foreign country and to 

18 acquire or hold interests in comparable real property 

19 in that foreign country. 

20 (2) INVESTMENT IN AND OPERATION OF CRIT21 ICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—A foreign person may ac22 quire or hold a property interest in, or control oper23 ations, management, or security operations of, crit24 ical infrastructure in the United States only to the 

25 same extent as the foreign country of which that for26 eign person is a national allows United States perVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:50 Mar 16, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4959.IH H4959

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1 sons to acquire or hold equivalent property interests 

2 or other evidences of ownership in, or to control op3 erations, management, or security operations of, 

4 comparable critical infrastructure in that country. 

5 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—(A) The 

7 term ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ means systems and as8 sets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to a coun9 try that the incapacity or destruction of such sys10 tems and assets would have a debilitating impact on 

11 the security, economic security, or public health or 

12 safety, of that country. Such term includes— 

13 (i) any airport, air navigation facility, or 

14 facility that is part of an air traffic control sys15 tem; 

16 (ii) any bridge, any highway, and any rail17 road tracks or facilities; 

18 (iii) any port facilities; 

19 (iv) any pipeline that transports oil, nat20 ural gas, or gasoline or other petroleum prod21 ucts; and 

22 (v) any electricity generation, transmission, 

23 or distribution facilities. 

24 (B) The terms ‘‘airport’’, ‘‘air navigation facil25 ity’’, and ‘‘air traffic control system’’ have the meanVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:50 Mar 16, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4959.IH H4959

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1 ings given those terms in section 40102 of title 49, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per4 son’’ means a national of a foreign country. 

5 (3) GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘government of 

6 a foreign country’’ includes any agency or instru7 mentality of the government of a foreign country. 

8 (4) NATIONAL OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY.—A 

9 person is a national of a foreign country if that per10 son is— 

11 (A) a citizen of that country; 

12 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

13 that country (whether the entity is controlled by 

14 private persons or government entities); 

15 (C) a unit of government of that country; 

16 or 

17 (D) an entity that is organized under the 

18 laws of the United States and is owned or con19 trolled by individuals, entities, or units of gov20 ernment described in subparagraphs (A), (B), 

21 and (C), or any combination thereof. 

22 (5) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

23 States’’ means the several States, the District of Co24 lumbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or posses25 sion of the United States. 


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1 (6) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

2 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

3 (A) any United States citizen; 

4 (B) any entity that is organized under the 

5 laws of the United States and is owned or con6 trolled by United States citizens, by State or 

7 local governments, by the United States, or by 

8 any combination thereof. 

9 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 

10 (a) SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The Secretary 

11 of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of 

12 Commerce, the Attorney General, and the heads of such 

13 other departments and agencies as the Secretary of the 

14 Treasury considers appropriate, shall issue such regula15 tions as are necessary to carry out section 2. 

16 (b) PENALTIES.— 

17 (1) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

18 (A) PENALTY.—A civil penalty of not more 

19 than $500,000 shall be imposed on any foreign 

20 person who violates section 2 or any regulation 

21 issued under subsection (a) of this section. 

22 (B) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF

23 THE TREASURY.—The Secretary of the Treas24 ury has the authority to impose civil penalties 

25 under subparagraph (A). 


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1 (2) OTHER RELIEF.—The Secretary of the 

2 Treasury may bring an action in the appropriate 

3 United States district court to enjoin any violation 

4 of section 2 or any regulation issued under sub5 section (a) of this section. In addition, the Attorney 

6 General, upon the request of the Secretary of the 

7 Treasury, shall seek appropriate relief, including di8 vestment relief, in the district courts in order to en9 force this Act. 

10 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT. 

11 The Secretary of the Treasury shall, not later than 

12 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

13 annually thereafter, issue and make public a report on the 

14 laws of each foreign country regarding permissible invest15 ment by foreign persons in enterprises organized under 

16 the laws of the country and in real property in that coun17 try, and permissible control by foreign persons of oper18 ations and management of critical infrastructure in that 

19 country. 

20 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), this Act 

22 shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment 

23 of this Act. 

24 (b) EXISTING INVESTMENTS.—In order to allow for25 eign countries the flexibility to make the necessary 


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1 changes to their laws so as to allow foreign investment 

2 and control affected by this Act, this Act and the regula3 tions issued under this Act shall not apply to any equity 

4 interest, other property interest, or control of operations 

5 or management of infrastructure, acquired before the ef6 fective date of this Act until the date that is 1 year after 

7 such effective date. 

Æ 


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