WASHINGTON, D.C., May 28, 2006 – LAWFUEL Press Release Service – Covington & Burling partner David M. Marchick and Edward M. Graham, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics (IIE), have co-authored US National Security and Foreign Direct Investment, published this month by IIE. The book is the most comprehensive analysis to date of national security issues associated with foreign investment and the investment review process under the Exon-Florio Amendment.
The authors put into historic context recent proposals to restrict foreign investment that have received attention from the public and in the Congress resulting from the controversy associated with Dubai Ports World’s recent bid to acquire US port operations. Mr. Marchick and Mr. Graham discuss proposed reforms to the Exon-Florio provisions of US law, which enables the President to block a foreign acquisition that threatens national security. They also propose ways to strengthen the current interagency review of proposed deals, including an improved process for reporting to Congress.
“Recent legislative proposals risk chilling foreign investment in the United States,” said Stuart Eizenstat, chair of Covington’s International Trade Practice and former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. “This important book demonstrates that the United States can both protect national security and maintain an open investment environment.”
Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush, commented that the book is “a very important and comprehensive assessment of a critical issue in a post-September 11 world. Protecting national security and maintaining an open investment regime are twin imperatives for the United States.”
Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury, described the book as “an insightful analysis of the complex and often emotional issues of foreign ownership of US assets and the national security issues associated with foreign ownership.”
Covington has one of the nation’s leading practices advising foreign and domestic companies on the investment review process conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The firm has represented US and foreign companies in a number of recent CFIUS reviews and has been deeply involved in the legislative debate regarding CFIUS reform. Several of the firm’s lawyers and professionals served as agency representatives to CFIUS during their government service, including Mr. Eizenstat and Alan Larson, the former Undersecretary of State for Economics, Business and Agricultural Affairs.
