A bill co-ponsored by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown aimed at curbing national security threats posed by China and other countries got approval from a key Senate committee this week.
Brown says countries like China have adopted new tactics to acquire sensitive American technologies, such as buying into U.S. companies to get seats on their boards. He maintains the U.S. must update the tools it has to block those threats.
“No country has been more aggressive than China in going after American technology in aviation, robotics, new energy, vehicles and other things where the U.S. has established itself as a global leader.”
The bill gives broad new oversight powers to the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
In passing the Senate Banking Committee vote, the bill takes a major step toward a full Senate vote, which Browns hopes will eventually lead to the measure becoming law by the end of the year. A companion bill passed in a similarly important committee -- the Financial Services Committee -- in the House.
