A FIRST FOR ME…..FORBIDDEN!

(Wayne Rash, James K. Jackson)

(U.S. Department of Treasury)

(Covington & Burling LLC)

(USA TODAY, Frazer Chronicle)

 

During my writing efforts, I’ve come across all sorts of barriers that made my task harder to complete, but I usually found a way to circumvent the objection, and complete whatever I was writing about.  Plagiarism, denied access, redactions, people that wouldn’t cooperate, or in some cases, everybody was dead, and of course people that found a subject to emotionally damaging to share the experience, but never forbidden!

 

I’ve run into freedom of information problems, albeit on a small scale, yet a stumbling block for the completion of my project, but forbidden, and an error 500…..not even once. And the worst part there was no contact address of any kind, just the word forbidden and the error 500.

 

So again, whenever I find a stumbling block, I adapt and improvise, and assume, whenever information is being withheld, there usually is a devious reason behind the denial. You see, in today’s United States world of hidden agendas, spin, mumbo-jumbo, double speak, and redaction a person just has to dig harder before the truth comes out.

 

What am I talking about today…..the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, (CFIUS), commonly pronounced “sifius”. Never heard of it…..don’t be too concerned…..neither have I, and I’ll bet the milk money you haven’t either. Most of us simply don’t have the time to follow each and every act that our government puts into law.

 

Sifius is an inter-agency, (whatever that means) of the United States Government that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in U.S. companies or operations. It is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, Jacob Lew, and the committee includes the heads of the following departments:

Department of Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce,  Defense, State, Energy, Office of U.S. Trade  Representative, Science & Technology Policy, Management & Budget, Council of Economic Advisors, the National Security Council, National Economic Council, and Homeland Security Council.

 

COVINGTON & BURLING LLP

I am always amassed at how attorneys seem to worm their way onto governmental situations, committee’s, and departments within the United States Government. Covington & BURLING LLP happens to be one of those firms that are intricately involved with Sifius.

 

Covington & Burling has a preeminent practice advising U.S. and foreign companies and business associations on transactional, regulatory, legislative and cross-border investments. Many attorneys in the firm have held senior positions in the United States Treasury Department, State Commerce, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice, National Economic Council and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

 

Representation by Covington & Burling cliental reads like a who’s who of business transactions, advisement, and multiple jurisdictions. The AOL sale, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, Advanced Technology Investment Company and BAE Systems Inc. to name just a few.

 

HISTORY OF SIFIUS

In 1975, President Gerald Ford created the Committee by Executive Order 11858, and was composed of the Secretaries of the Treasury as the chairman, Secretary of State, Defense, Commerce, the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs and the Executive Director of the council on International Economic Policy.

 

The Executive Order also stipulated that the Committee would have primary continuing responsibility within the Executive Branch for monitoring the impact of foreign investment in the United States, both direct and portfolio, and coordinating the implementation of United States policy on such investments.

 

In particular, arrange for the preparation of analyses of trends and significant developments in foreign investments in the United States, provide guidance on arrangements with foreign governments for advance consultation on prospective major foreign governmental investments in the United States.

 

Also review investments in the United States which in the judgment of the committee might have major implications for United States national interests: and consider proposals for new legislation or regulations relating to foreign investments as may appear necessary.

 

Since the creation of the committee, several additions have been made by presidential orders, reduction in committee size, and the inclusion of additional department chair-people. In 2007 the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007, (FINSA) established, adding the Secretary of Labor and the Director of National Intelligence, and removed 7 White House appointees.

 

The FINSA requires the President to conduct a national security investigation or certain proposal investment transactions, provides a broader oversight role for Congress, and keeps the President as the only officer with the authority to prohibit mergers, acquisitions and takeovers.

 

On the surface, both SIFIUS AND FINSA appear as suitable organizations to monitor international business transactions that are carried out in the world at least on a monthly basis. I’m sure that there are hundreds of proposed buy-outs and transfers involving U.S. and foreign companies on small sized business all the time.

 

In fact since 1988 there have been in excess of 2,500 such notifications to the SIFIUS committee, with 121 investigations which forced 89 withdrawals, and 14 Presidential decisions. However to give a proper prospective of how serious politicians regard the SIFIUS, their duties, responsibilities and the heft the committee commands, Richard Perle in an interview explained his opinion about the committee as follows, “The committee almost never met, when it deliberated, it was usually as a fairly low bureaucratic level.” He also added, “I think it’s a bit of a joke, if we were serious about scrutinizing foreign ownership and foreign control, particularly since September 11, 2001.”

 

So there you have it…..another non-active committee created almost four decades ago with little or no power, with disinterest by most committee members. Yet an important arm of our government that should be used to monitor all of the foreign business that is conducted between American companies and investment groups all over the world.

 

 

 

 

In a way, it’s like the song questions…..”Who’s you’re Daddy” nobody knows for sure, pretty much because most of the business transactions that are carried on in the world today do so under the radar. I know of a toll road in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania that is owned by a Spanish company, Cintra Concessions, and Australian’s Macquarie Atlas Roads Inc.

 

You see, anymore you can’t trust even the roads that you travel, it’s kind of like being forbidden to access information from a committee that we pay for, that we depend on, (even though we didn’t know it), and a committee and its membership that is considered a joke by most of our elected officials.

 

And now, on the horizon, the next time you crave for pork pulled sandwich, (which would taste so good right now) it will probably be pulled by some Chinaman…..unless a committee, (SIFIUS) which is considered to be a joke stops a $4.7 billion dollar purchase of Smithfield Foods by Shuanghui International Holdings.

 

So, even though the pork that you pull might be American grown, it will be shipped to China, processed there, and shipped back to the United States for consumption…..with that thought, you can:

 

HAVE A GOOD DAY!