What This Bill Does
This bill requires a federal committee to review when foreign persons connected to Russia, China, Iran or North Korea purchase or lease land near U.S. military installations or military airspace. The bill also delays approval of energy projects built on land under this type of review until the committee finishes investigating.
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Who It Affects
- Foreign persons (individuals or entities) owned by, controlled by or subsidized by Russia, China, Iran or North Korea
- The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
- The Secretary of Defense
- The Secretary of Transportation
- U.S. Senators and Congressional representatives from affected states and districts
- Companies proposing energy projects on reviewed land
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Key Provisions
- The Committee must review real estate purchases or leases by foreign persons connected to specified countries if the land is within 100 miles of a U.S. military installation or within 50 miles of military training routes, military airspace, controlled firing areas or military operations areas (Sec. 2(a))
- The Committee must automatically start a review for transactions matching these criteria without waiting for anyone to request it (Sec. 2(b))
- The Committee must notify U.S. Senators and the Congressional representative from the district where the military installation or airspace is located about these reviews (Sec. 2(c))
- The Secretary of Defense cannot finish reviewing an energy project until the Committee completes its review of the land purchase or lease, and must notify the Secretary of Transportation of any delay (Sec. 3(a))
- The Secretary of Transportation cannot approve an energy project on reviewed land until both the Committee finishes its review and the Secretary of Defense either approves the project or states no approval will be given (Sec. 3(b))
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What Changes
The federal government gains the authority to automatically review and potentially block land purchases and leases by citizens or companies connected to Russia, China, Iran or North Korea near military sites. Energy projects on such land cannot move forward until military security reviews are complete. Lawmakers in affected states and districts will receive official notifications about these transactions.
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Important Definitions
- **Military installation**: Not defined in this bill text
- **Military training route**: Referenced as defined in federal code but not restated here
- **Special use airspace**: Referenced as airspace designated under federal aviation regulations but not redefined here
- **Controlled firing area**: Referenced as defined in federal aviation regulations but not redefined here
- **Military operations area**: Referenced as defined in federal aviation regulations but not redefined here
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 917
To require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to
review any purchase or lease of real estate near a military installation
or military airspace in the United States by a foreign person connected
to, or subsidized by, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of
China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, or the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 9, 2023
Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the
Committees on Foreign Affairs, Energy and Commerce, Armed Services,
and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States to review any purchase or lease of real
estate near a military installation or military airspace
in the United States by a foreign person connected to,
or subsidized by, the Russian Federation, the People’s
Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, or the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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•HR 917 IH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Military
2
Installations from Foreign Espionage Act’’.
3
SEC. 2. REVIEW BY COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT
4
IN THE UNITED STATES OF REAL ESTATE
5
PURCHASES OR LEASES NEAR MILITARY IN-
6
STALLATIONS OR MILITARY AIRSPACE.
7
(a) INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF COVERED TRANS-
8
ACTION.—Section 721(a)(4) of the Defense Production
9
Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565(a)(4)) is amended—
10
(1) in subparagraph (A)—
11
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and
12
inserting a semicolon;
13
(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at
14
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
15
(C) by adding at the end the following:
16
‘‘(iii) any transaction described in
17
subparagraph (B)(vi) that is proposed,
18
pending, or completed on or after the date
19
of the enactment of the Protecting Military
20
Installations
from
Foreign
Espionage
21
Act.’’; and
22
(2) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end
23
the following:
24
‘‘(vi) Notwithstanding clause (ii) or
25
subparagraph (C), the purchase or lease
26
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•HR 917 IH
by, or a concession to, a foreign person of
1
private or public real estate—
2
‘‘(I) that is located in the United
3
States and within—
4
‘‘(aa) 100 miles of a military
5
installation (as defined in section
6
2801(c)(4) of title 10, United
7
States Code); or
8
‘‘(bb) 50 miles of—
9
‘‘(AA) a military train-
10
ing route (as defined in sec-
11
tion 183a(h) of title 10,
12
United States Code);
13
‘‘(BB)
airspace
des-
14
ignated as special use air-
15
space under part 73 of title
16
14, Code of Federal Regula-
17
tions (or a successor regula-
18
tion), and managed by the
19
Department of Defense;
20
‘‘(CC) a controlled fir-
21
ing area (as defined in sec-
22
tion 1.1 of title 14, Code of
23
Federal Regulations (or a
24
successor regulation)) used
25
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•HR 917 IH
by the Department of De-
1
fense; or
2
‘‘(DD) a military oper-
3
ations area (as defined in
4
section 1.1 of title 14, Code
5
of Federal Regulations (or a
6
successor regulation)); and
7
‘‘(II) if the foreign person is
8
owned or controlled by, is acting for
9
or on behalf of, or receives subsidies
10
from—
11
‘‘(aa) the Government of the
12
Russian Federation;
13
‘‘(bb) the Government of the
14
People’s Republic of China;
15
‘‘(cc) the Government of the
16
Islamic Republic of Iran; or
17
‘‘(dd) the Government of the
18
Democratic People’s Republic of
19
Korea.’’.
20
(b) MANDATORY UNILATERAL INITIATION OF RE-
21
VIEWS.—Section 721(b)(1)(D) of the Defense Production
22
Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565(b)(1)(D)) is amended—
23
(1) in clause (iii), by redesignating subclauses
24
(I), (II), and (III) as items (aa), (bb), and (cc), re-
25
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•HR 917 IH
spectively, and by moving such items, as so redesig-
1
nated, 2 ems to the right;
2
(2) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) as
3
subclauses (I), (II), and (III), respectively, and by
4
moving such subclauses, as so redesignated, 2 ems
5
to the right;
6
(3) by striking ‘‘Subject to’’ and inserting the
7
following:
8
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to’’; and
9
(4) by adding at the end the following:
10
‘‘(ii) MANDATORY UNILATERAL INITI-
11
ATION OF CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS.—The
12
Committee shall initiate a review under
13
subparagraph (A) of a covered transaction
14
described in subsection (a)(4)(B)(vi).’’.
15
(c)
CERTIFICATIONS
TO
CONGRESS.—Section
16
721(b)(3)(C)(iii) of the Defense Production Act of 1950
17
(50 U.S.C. 4565(b)(3)(C)(iii)) is amended—
18
(1) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and
19
inserting a semicolon;
20
(2) in subclause (V), by striking the period at
21
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
22
(3) by adding at the end the following:
23
‘‘(VI) with respect to covered
24
transactions described in subsection
25
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•HR 917 IH
(a)(4)(B)(vi), to the members of the
1
Senate from the State in which the
2
military installation, military training
3
route, special use airspace, controlled
4
firing area, or military operations
5
area is located, and the member from
6
the Congressional District in which
7
such installation, route, airspace, or
8
area is located.’’.
9
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON APPROVAL OF ENERGY PROJECTS
10
RELATED TO REVIEWS CONDUCTED BY COM-
11
MITTEE ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN THE
12
UNITED STATES.
13
(a) REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—Section
14
183a of title 10, United States Code, is amended—
15
(1) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), and
16
(h) as subsections (g), (h), and (i), respectively; and
17
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
18
lowing new subsection (f):
19
‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO REVIEW BY COM-
20
MITTEE
ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT
OF
THE UNITED
21
STATES.—(1) If, during the period during which the De-
22
partment of Defense is reviewing an application for an en-
23
ergy project filed with the Secretary of Transportation
24
under section 44718 of title 49, the purchase, lease, or
25
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•HR 917 IH
concession of real property on which the project is planned
1
to be located is under review or investigation by the Com-
2
mittee on Foreign Investment in the United States under
3
section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50
4
U.S.C. 4565), the Secretary of Defense—
5
‘‘(A) may not complete review of the project
6
until the Committee concludes action under such
7
section 721 with respect to the purchase, lease, or
8
concession; and
9
‘‘(B) shall notify the Secretary of Transpor-
10
tation of the delay.
11
‘‘(2) If the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
12
United States determines that the purchase, lease, or con-
13
cession of real property on which an energy project de-
14
scribed in paragraph (1) is planned to be located threatens
15
to impair the national security of the United States and
16
refers the purchase, lease, or concession to the President
17
for further action under section 721(d) of the Defense
18
Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565(d)), the Sec-
19
retary of Defense shall—
20
‘‘(A) find under subsection (e)(1) that the
21
project would result in an unacceptable risk to the
22
national security of the United States; and
23
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•HR 917 IH
‘‘(B) transmit that finding to the Secretary of
1
Transportation for inclusion in the report required
2
under section 44718(b)(2) of title 49.’’.
3
(b) REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION.—
4
Section 44718 of title 49, United States Code, is amend-
5
ed—
6
(1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub-
7
section (i); and
8
(2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol-
9
lowing new subsection:
10
‘‘(h) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO REVIEW BY COM-
11
MITTEE
ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT
OF
THE UNITED
12
STATES.—The Secretary of Transportation may not issue
13
a determination pursuant to this section with respect to
14
a proposed structure to be located on real property the
15
purchase, lease, or concession of which is under review or
16
investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in
17
the United States under section 721 of the Defense Pro-
18
duction Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565) until—
19
‘‘(1) the Committee concludes action under
20
such section 721 with respect to the purchase, lease,
21
or concession; and
22
‘‘(2) the Secretary of Defense—
23
‘‘(A) issues a finding under section 183a(e)
24
of title 10; or
25
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•HR 917 IH
‘‘(B) advises the Secretary of Transpor-
1
tation that no finding under section 183a(e) of
2
title 10 will be forthcoming.’’.
3
Æ
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