I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4917 

To amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require notification to 

Congress after receipt of written notification of proposed or pending 

mergers, acquisitions, or takeovers subject to investigation under such 

Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2006 

Mr. BARROW (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. SKELTON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on International Relations, Energy and Commerce, and Homeland Security, 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 amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require 

notification to Congress after receipt of written notification of proposed or pending mergers, acquisitions, or 

takeovers subject to investigation under such Act, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Protect America First 

5 Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT 

2 OF 1950. 

3 (a) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Section 721(c) of 

4 the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 

5 2170(c)) is amended— 

6 (1) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘NOTIFICATION

7 REQUIREMENTS;’’ before ‘‘CONFIDENTIALITY’’; 

8 (2) by inserting after the heading the following 

9 new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) RECEIPT OF WRITTEN NOTIFICA12 TION.—Not later than five days after receipt of 

13 written notification of a proposed or pending 

14 merger, acquisition, or takeover that may be 

15 subject to an investigation under subsection (a) 

16 or is subject to an investigation under sub17 section (b), the President or the President’s 

18 designee shall provide notice of the receipt of 

19 such written notification to the Members of 

20 Congress specified in subparagraph (D). 

21 ‘‘(B) COMMENCEMENT OF INVESTIGA22 TION.—Not later than one day after com23 mencing an investigation under subsection (a) 

24 or (b), the President or the President’s designee 

25 shall provide notice of the investigation and rel26 evant information regarding the proposed or 


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1 pending merger, acquisition, or takeover, in2 cluding relevant ownership records, to the Mem3 bers of Congress specified in subparagraph (D). 

4 ‘‘(C) ACCESS TO INVESTIGATION.—The 

5 President or the President’s designee shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) provide responses in a timely 

7 manner to any inquiries made by the Mem8 bers of Congress specified in subparagraph 

9 (D) regarding an investigation carried out 

10 under subsection (a) or (b); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) notify such Members of Congress 

12 promptly of the decision of the President 

13 or the President’s designee upon comple14 tion of the investigation. 

15 ‘‘(D) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—The 

16 Members of Congress referred to in this para17 graph are the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) The Speaker and Minority Leader 

19 of the House of Representatives. 

20 ‘‘(ii) The Majority and Minority Lead21 er of the Senate. 

22 ‘‘(iii) The Chairmen and Ranking 

23 Members of the Committee on Financial 

24 Services, the Committee on Homeland Se25 curity, the Committee on Armed Services, 


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1 the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

2 the Committee on Transportation and In3 frastructure, and the Permanent Select 

4 Committee on Intelligence of the House of 

5 Representatives. 

6 ‘‘(iv) The Chairmen and Ranking 

7 Members of the Committee on Finance, 

8 the Committee on Homeland Security and 

9 Governmental Affairs, the Committee on 

10 Armed Services, the Committee on Com11 merce, Science, and Transportation, and 

12 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

13 Senate. 

14 ‘‘(v) The Senators representing States 

15 and the Members of Congress representing 

16 districts affected by the proposed trans17 action.’’; 

18 (3) by striking ‘‘Any information’’ and inserting 

19 the following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.— 

21 Any information’’; and 

22 (4) by striking ‘‘Nothing in this subsection’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘Nothing in this paragraph’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 721 of the 

2 Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2170) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsection 

5 (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (e)’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘subsection 

7 (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; and 

8 (3) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘of this Act’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘of this section’’. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of section 

11 721(c)(1) of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as 

12 added by subsection (a) of this section, apply with respect 

13 to any written notification of a proposed or pending merg14 er, acquisition, or takeover that may be subject to an in15 vestigation under section 721(a) of such Act or is subject 

16 to an investigation under section 721(b) of such Act that 

17 is received on or after the date of the enactment of this 

18 Act. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) the Committee on Foreign Investment in 

22 the United States (CFIUS), established under Exec23 utive Order 11858 (40 Fed. Reg. 20263), should be 

24 transferred from the Department of the Treasury to 

25 the Department of Homeland Security; and 


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1 (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security should 

2 serve as the Chairman of CFIUS. 

Æ 


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