Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), the chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee, is still aiming to send by August a bill to the president’s desk that is based on Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) legislation to modernize and expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, he told Inside U.S. Trade on Thursday after a hearing with administration officials on the national security watchdog.
[Jack Caporal | March 19, 2018 | Inside US Trade]
“I do think it’s possible,” Barr told Inside U.S. Trade when asked if the August target date was still doable. “I had a conversation with Sen. Cornyn earlier this week and we’re going to be digesting the testimony here, some of the suggestions, the feedback that we’re getting.”
“We’re going to be in discussions with Mr. Pittenger and Sen. Cornyn about their revisions to the draft bill and some suggestions we have, and then we’re moving towards a markup,” Barr said. Rep. Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) has taken the lead on pushing the bill, the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017 or FIRRMA, in the House.
Testifying in front of the House Financial Services subcommittee on Thursday was Heath Tarbert, assistant Secretary for international markets and investment policy at the Treasury Department; Richard Ashooh,assistant secretary of Commerce for export administration; and Eric Chewning, deputy assistant defense secretary for manufacturing and industrial base policy.
The three officials previously offered testimony to the Senate Banking Committee in January.
