S. 1869 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 

An Act 

To require the disclosure of ownership of high-security space leased to accommodate 

a Federal agency, 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 ‘‘Secure Federal 

Leases from Espionage And Suspicious Entanglements Act’’ or the 

‘‘Secure Federal LEASEs Act’’. 

(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

(1) the Government Accountability Office has reported that 

the Federal Government often leases high-security space from 

private sector landlords; 

(2) the General Services Administration collects highestlevel and immediate ownership information through the System 

for Award Management, but it is not currently required to 

collect beneficial ownership information and lacks an adequate 

system for doing so; 

(3) the General Services Administration and Federal agencies with leasing authority may not know if foreign owners 

have a stake in the buildings leased by the agencies, either 

through foreign-incorporated legal entities or through ownership in United States-incorporated legal entities, even when 

the leased space is used for classified operations or to store 

sensitive data; and 

(4) according to a report of the Government Accountability 

Office, dated January 2017, that examined the risks of foreign 

ownership of Government-leased real estate, ‘‘leasing space in 

foreign-owned buildings could present security risks such as 

espionage and unauthorized cyber and physical access’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) BENEFICIAL OWNER.— 

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

(B), the term ‘‘beneficial owner’’ means, with respect to 

a covered entity, each natural person who, directly or 

indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship, or otherwise— 

(i) exercises control over the covered entity; or 

(ii) has a substantial interest in or receives 

substantial economic benefits from the assets of the 

covered entity. 
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(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘beneficial owner’’ does not 

include, with respect to a covered entity— 

(i) a minor child; 

(ii) a person acting as a nominee, intermediary, 

custodian, or agent on behalf of another person; 

(iii) a person acting solely as an employee of the 

covered entity and whose control over or economic 

benefits from the covered entity derives solely from 

the employment status of the person; 

(iv) a person whose only interest in the covered 

entity is through a right of inheritance, unless the 

person also meets the requirements of subparagraph 

(A); or 

(v) a creditor of the covered entity, unless the 

creditor also meets the requirements of subparagraph 

(A). 

(C) ANTI-ABUSE RULE.—The exceptions under subparagraph (B) shall not apply if used for the purpose of evading, 

circumventing, or abusing the requirements of this Act. 

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

a covered entity— 

(A) having the authority or ability to determine how 

a covered entity is utilized; or 

(B) having some decision-making power for the use 

of a covered entity. 

(3) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered entity’’ means— 

(A) a person, corporation, company, business association, partnership, society, trust, or any other nongovernmental entity, organization, or group; or 

(B) any governmental entity or instrumentality of a 

government. 

(4) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive agency’’ has 

the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United 

States Code. 

(5) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means 

any Executive agency or any establishment in the legislative 

or judicial branch of the Government. 

(6) FEDERAL LESSEE.—The term ‘‘Federal lessee’’— 

(A) means the Administrator of General Services, the 

Architect of the Capitol, or the head of any Federal agency, 

other than the Department of Defense, that has independent statutory leasing authority; and 

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

intelligence community. 

(7) FEDERAL TENANT.—The term ‘‘Federal tenant’’— 

(A) means a Federal agency that is occupying or will 

occupy a high-security leased space for which a lease agreement has been secured on behalf of the Federal agency; 

and 

(B) does not include an element of the intelligence 

community. 

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

covered entity that is headquartered or incorporated in a 

country that is not the United States. 

(9) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign person’’ means 

an individual who is not a United States person. 
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(10) HIGH-SECURITY LEASED SPACE.—The term ‘‘high-security leased space’’ means a space leased by a Federal lessee 

that— 

(A) will be occupied by Federal employees for nonmilitary activities; and 

(B) has a facility security level of III, IV, or V, as 

determined by the Federal tenant in consultation with 

the Interagency Security Committee, the Department of 

Homeland Security, and the General Services Administration. 

(11) HIGHEST-LEVEL OWNER.—The term ‘‘highest-level 

owner’’ means the entity that owns or controls an immediate 

owner of the offeror of a lease, or that owns or controls 1 

or more entities that control an immediate owner of the offeror. 

(12) IMMEDIATE OWNER.—The term ‘‘immediate owner’’ 

means an entity, other than the offeror of a lease, that has 

direct control of the offeror, including ownership or interlocking 

management, identity of interests among family members, 

shared facilities and equipment, and the common use of 

employees. 

(13) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘intelligence 

community’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of 

the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 

(14) SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS.—The term 

‘‘substantial economic benefits’’ means, with respect to a natural 

person described in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), having an entitlement 

to the funds or assets of a covered entity that, as a practical 

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

manage, or direct the covered entity. 

(15) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term ‘‘United States person’’ means an individual who— 

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

(B) is an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States. 

(16) WIDELY HELD.—The term ‘‘widely held’’ means a fund 

that has not less than 100 natural persons as direct or indirect 

investors. 

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

LEASED FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

(a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.—Before entering into a lease agreement with a covered entity or approving a novation agreement 

with a covered entity involving a change of ownership under a 

lease that will be used for high-security leased space, a Federal 

lessee shall require the covered entity to identify and disclose 

whether the immediate or highest-level owner of the leased space, 

including an entity involved in the financing thereof, is a foreign 

person or a foreign entity, including the country associated with 

the ownership entity. 

(b) NOTIFICATION.—If a disclosure is made under subsection 

(a), the Federal lessee shall notify the Federal tenant of the building 

or other improvement that will be used for high-security space 

in writing, and consult with the Federal tenant, regarding security 

concerns and necessary mitigation measures, if any, prior to award 

of the lease or approval of the novation agreement. 
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(c) TIMING.— 

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

entity to provide the information described in subsection (a) 

when first submitting a proposal in response to a solicitation 

for offers issued by the Federal lessee. 

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

entity to submit an update of the information described in 

subsection (a) annually, beginning on the date that is 1 year 

after the date on which the Federal tenant began occupancy, 

with information including— 

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

the covered entity during the preceding 1-year period of 

Federal occupancy; or 

(B) the information required to be provided relating 

to each such immediate or highest-level owner. 

SEC. 4. IMMEDIATE, HIGHEST-LEVEL, AND BENEFICIAL OWNERS. 

(a) PLAN.—The General Services Administration, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, shall develop 

a Government-wide plan for agencies (as such term is defined 

in section 551 of title 5, United States Code) for identifying all 

immediate, highest-level, or beneficial owners of high-security 

leased spaces before entering into a lease agreement with a covered 

entity for the accommodation of a Federal tenant in a high-security 

leased space. 

(b) REQUIREMENTS.— (1) CONTENTS.—The plan described in subsection (a) shall 

include a process for collecting and utilizing the following 

information on each immediate, highest-level, or beneficial 

owner of a high-security leased space: 

(A) Name. 

(B) Current residential or business street address. 

(C) An identifying number or document that verifies 

identity as a United States person, foreign person, or foreign entity. 

(2) DISCLOSURES AND NOTIFICATIONS.—The plan described 

in subsection (a) shall— 

(A) require the disclosure of any immediate, highestlevel, or beneficial owner that is a foreign person; 

(B) require that, if the Federal lessee is assigning 

the building or other improvement that will be used for 

high-security space to a Federal tenant, the Federal tenant 

shall be notified of the disclosure described in subparagraph 

(A); and 

(C) exclude collecting ownership information on widely 

held pooled-investment vehicles, mutual funds, trusts, or 

other pooled-investment vehicles. 

(c) REPORT AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The General Services 

Administration shall— 

(1) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

this Act, submit the plan described in subsection (a) to the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 

(2) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

of this Act, implement the plan described in subsection (a); 

and 
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(3) not later than 1 year after the implementation of the 

plan described in subsection (a), and each year thereafter for 

9 years, submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives on the status of the implementation of the plan, 

including the number of disclosures made under subsection 

(b)(2). 

SEC. 5. OTHER SECURITY AGREEMENTS FOR LEASED SPACE. 

A lease agreement between a Federal lessee and a covered 

entity for the accommodation of a Federal agency in a building 

or other improvement that will be used for high-security leased 

space shall include language that provides that— 

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

management company who may be responsible for oversight 

or maintenance of the high-security leased space shall not— 

(A) maintain access to the high-security leased space; 

or 

(B) have access to the high-security leased space without prior approval from the Federal tenant; 

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

or information located within that space will only be granted 

by the Federal tenant if the Federal tenant determines that 

the access is clearly consistent with the mission and responsibilities of the Federal tenant; and 

(3) the Federal lessee shall have written procedures in 

place, signed by the Federal lessee and the covered entity, 

governing access to the high-security leased space in case of 

emergencies that may damage the leased property. 

SEC. 6. AGENCY NOTIFICATIONS. 

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

Act, the Administrator of General Services, in consultation with 

the Office of Management and Budget, shall provide notification 

to relevant Executive branch agencies with independent leasing 

authorities of the requirements of this Act. 
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SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY. 

Except where otherwise provided, this Act shall apply with 

respect to any lease or novation agreement entered into on or 

after the date that is 6 months after the date of enactment of 

this Act. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.