In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

November 17, 2020. 

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1869) entitled ‘‘An Act to require the disclosure of ownership of highsecurity space leased to accommodate a Federal agency, and 

for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Se3 cure Federal Leases from Espionage And Suspicious En4 tanglements Act’’ or the ‘‘Secure Federal LEASEs Act’’. 

5 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

6 (1) the Government Accountability Office has re7 ported that the Federal Government often leases high8 security space from private sector landlords; 

9 (2) the General Services Administration collects 

10 highest- level and immediate ownership information 

11 through the System for Award Management, but it is 

12 not currently required to collect beneficial ownership 

13 information and lacks an adequate system for doing 

14 so; 
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1 (3) the General Services Administration and 

2 Federal agencies with leasing authority may not 

3 know if foreign owners have a stake in the buildings 

4 leased by the agencies, either through foreign-incor5 porated legal entities or through ownership in United 

6 States-incorporated legal entities, even when the 

7 leased space is used for classified operations or to 

8 store sensitive data; and 

9 (4) according to a report of the Government Ac10 countability Office, dated January 2017, that exam11 ined the risks of foreign ownership of Government12 leased real estate, ‘‘leasing space in foreign-owned 

13 buildings could present security risks such as espio14 nage and unauthorized cyber and physical access’’. 

15 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) BENEFICIAL OWNER.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘beneficial owner’’ 

20 means, with respect to a covered entity, each 

21 natural person who, directly or indirectly, 

22 through any contract, arrangement, under23 standing, relationship, or otherwise— 

24 (i) exercises control over the covered 

25 entity; or 
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1 (ii) has a substantial interest in or re2 ceives substantial economic benefits from the 

3 assets of the covered entity. 

4 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘beneficial 

5 owner’’ does not include, with respect to a cov6 ered entity— 

7 (i) a minor child; 

8 (ii) a person acting as a nominee, 

9 intermediary, custodian, or agent on behalf 

10 of another person; 

11 (iii) a person acting solely as an em12 ployee of the covered entity and whose con13 trol over or economic benefits from the cov14 ered entity derives solely from the employ15 ment status of the person; 

16 (iv) a person whose only interest in the 

17 covered entity is through a right of inherit18 ance, unless the person also meets the re19 quirements of subparagraph (A); or 

20 (v) a creditor of the covered entity, un21 less the creditor also meets the requirements 

22 of subparagraph (A). 

23 (C) ANTI-ABUSE RULE.—The exceptions 

24 under subparagraph (B) shall not apply if used 
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1 for the purpose of evading, circumventing, or 

2 abusing the requirements of this Act. 

3 (2) CONTROL.—The term ‘‘control’’ means, with 

4 respect to a covered entity— 

5 (A) having the authority or ability to deter6 mine how a covered entity is utilized; or 

7 (B) having some decision-making power for 

8 the use of a covered entity. 

9 (3) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered enti10 ty’’ means— 

11 (A) a person, corporation, company, busi12 ness association, partnership, society, trust, or 

13 any other nongovernmental entity, organization, 

14 or group; or 

15 (B) any governmental entity or instrumen16 tality of a government. 

17 (4) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 

18 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

19 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

20 (5) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal agen21 cy’’ means any Executive agency or any establish22 ment in the legislative or judicial branch of the Gov23 ernment. 

24 (6) FEDERAL LESSEE.—The term ‘‘Federal les25 see’’— 
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1 (A) means the Administrator of General 

2 Services, the Architect of the Capitol, or the head 

3 of any Federal agency, other than the Depart4 ment of Defense, that has independent statutory 

5 leasing authority; and 

6 (B) does not include the head of an element 

7 of the intelligence community. 

8 (7) FEDERAL TENANT.—The term ‘‘Federal ten9 ant’’— 

10 (A) means a Federal agency that is occu11 pying or will occupy a high-security leased space 

12 for which a lease agreement has been secured on 

13 behalf of the Federal agency; and 

14 (B) does not include an element of the intel15 ligence community. 

16 (8) FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term ‘‘foreign entity’’ 

17 means a covered entity that is headquartered or in18 corporated in a country that is not the United States. 

19 (9) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per20 son’’ means an individual who is not a United States 

21 person. 

22 (10) HIGH-SECURITY LEASED SPACE.—The term 

23 ‘‘high-security leased space’’ means a space leased by 

24 a Federal lessee that— 
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1 (A) will be occupied by Federal employees 

2 for nonmilitary activities; and 

3 (B) has a facility security level of III, IV, 

4 or V, as determined by the Federal tenant in 

5 consultation with the Interagency Security Com6 mittee, the Department of Homeland Security, 

7 and the General Services Administration. 

8 (11) HIGHEST-LEVEL OWNER.—The term ‘‘high9 est-level owner’’ means the entity that owns or con10 trols an immediate owner of the offeror of a lease, or 

11 that owns or controls 1 or more entities that control 

12 an immediate owner of the offeror. 

13 (12) IMMEDIATE OWNER.—The term ‘‘immediate 

14 owner’’ means an entity, other than the offeror of a 

15 lease, that has direct control of the offeror, including 

16 ownership or interlocking management, identity of 

17 interests among family members, shared facilities and 

18 equipment, and the common use of employees. 

19 (13) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘in20 telligence community’’ has the meaning given the 

21 term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 

22 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 

23 (14) SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS.—The 

24 term ‘‘substantial economic benefits’’ means, with re25 spect to a natural person described in paragraph 
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1 (1)(A)(ii), having an entitlement to the funds or as2 sets of a covered entity that, as a practical matter, 

3 enables the person, directly or indirectly, to control, 

4 manage, or direct the covered entity. 

5 (15) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

6 ‘‘United States person’’ means an individual who— 

7 (A) is a citizen of the United States; or 

8 (B) is an alien lawfully admitted for per9 manent residence in the United States. 

10 (16) WIDELY HELD.—The term ‘‘widely held’’ 

11 means a fund that has not less than 100 natural per12 sons as direct or indirect investors. 

13 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF OWNERSHIP OF HIGH-SECURITY 

14 SPACE LEASED FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

15 (a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.—Before entering into a 

16 lease agreement with a covered entity or approving a nova17 tion agreement with a covered entity involving a change 

18 of ownership under a lease that will be used for high-secu19 rity leased space, a Federal lessee shall require the covered 

20 entity to identify and disclose whether the immediate or 

21 highest-level owner of the leased space, including an entity 

22 involved in the financing thereof, is a foreign person or a 

23 foreign entity, including the country associated with the 

24 ownership entity. 
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1 (b) NOTIFICATION.—If a disclosure is made under sub2 section (a), the Federal lessee shall notify the Federal tenant 

3 of the building or other improvement that will be used for 

4 high-security space in writing, and consult with the Federal 

5 tenant, regarding security concerns and necessary mitiga6 tion measures, if any, prior to award of the lease or ap7 proval of the novation agreement. 

8 (c) TIMING.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Federal lessee shall require 

10 a covered entity to provide the information described 

11 in subsection (a) when first submitting a proposal in 

12 response to a solicitation for offers issued by the Fed13 eral lessee. 

14 (2) UPDATES.—A Federal lessee shall require a 

15 covered entity to submit an update of the information 

16 described in subsection (a) annually, beginning on the 

17 date that is 1 year after the date on which the Fed18 eral tenant began occupancy, with information in19 cluding— 

20 (A) the list of immediate or highest-level 

21 owners of the covered entity during the preceding 

22 1-year period of Federal occupancy; or 

23 (B) the information required to be provided 

24 relating to each such immediate or highest-level 

25 owner. 
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1 SEC. 4. IMMEDIATE, HIGHEST-LEVEL, AND BENEFICIAL 

2 OWNERS. 

3 (a) PLAN.—The General Services Administration, in 

4 coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, 

5 shall develop a Government-wide plan for agencies (as such 

6 term is defined in section 551 of title 5, United States Code) 

7 for identifying all immediate, highest-level, or beneficial 

8 owners of high-security leased spaces before entering into 

9 a lease agreement with a covered entity for the accommoda10 tion of a Federal tenant in a high-security leased space. 

11 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (1) CONTENTS.—The plan described in sub13 section (a) shall include a process for collecting and 

14 utilizing the following information on each imme15 diate, highest-level, or beneficial owner of a high-secu16 rity leased space: 

17 (A) Name. 

18 (B) Current residential or business street 

19 address. 

20 (C) An identifying number or document 

21 that verifies identity as a United States person, 

22 foreign person, or foreign entity. 

23 (2) DISCLOSURES AND NOTIFICATIONS.—The 

24 plan described in subsection (a) shall— 
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1 (A) require the disclosure of any immediate, 

2 highest-level, or beneficial owner that is a foreign 

3 person; 

4 (B) require that, if the Federal lessee is as5 signing the building or other improvement that 

6 will be used for high-security space to a Federal 

7 tenant, the Federal tenant shall be notified of the 

8 disclosure described in subparagraph (A); and 

9 (C) exclude collecting ownership informa10 tion on widely held pooled-investment vehicles, 

11 mutual funds, trusts, or other pooled-investment 

12 vehicles. 

13 (c) REPORT AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The General 

14 Services Administration shall— 

15 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of enact16 ment of this Act, submit the plan described in sub17 section (a) to the Committee on Homeland Security 

18 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com19 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

20 House of Representatives; 

21 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of enact22 ment of this Act, implement the plan described in 

23 subsection (a); and 

24 (3) not later than 1 year after the implementa25 tion of the plan described in subsection (a), and each 
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1 year thereafter for years, submit a report to the Com2 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af3 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor4 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa5 tives on the status of the implementation of the plan, 

6 including the number of disclosures made under sub7 section (b)(2). 

8 SEC. 5. OTHER SECURITY AGREEMENTS FOR LEASED 

9 SPACE. 

10 A lease agreement between a Federal lessee and a cov11 ered entity for the accommodation of a Federal agency in 

12 a building or other improvement that will be used for high13 security leased space shall include language that provides 

14 that— 

15 (1) the covered entity and any member of the 

16 property management company who may be respon17 sible for oversight or maintenance of the high-security 

18 leased space shall not— 

19 (A) maintain access to the high-security 

20 leased space; or 

21 (B) have access to the high-security leased 

22 space without prior approval from the Federal 

23 tenant; 

24 (2) access to the high-security leased space or 

25 any property or information located within that 
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1 space will only be granted by the Federal tenant if the 

2 Federal tenant determines that the access is clearly 

3 consistent with the mission and responsibilities of the 

4 Federal tenant; and 

5 (3) the Federal lessee shall have written proce6 dures in place, signed by the Federal lessee and the 

7 covered entity, governing access to the high-security 

8 leased space in case of emergencies that may damage 

9 the leased property. 

10 SEC. 6. AGENCY NOTIFICATIONS. 

11 Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 

12 this Act, the Administrator of General Services, in consulta13 tion with the Office of Management and Budget, shall pro14 vide notification to relevant Executive branch agencies with 

15 independent leasing authorities of the requirements of this 

16 Act. 

17 SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY. 

18 Except where otherwise provided, this Act shall apply 

19 with respect to any lease or novation agreement entered into 

20 on or after the date that is 6 months after the date of enact21 ment of this Act. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1869 

AMENDMENT