[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 392 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 392
To require the disclosure of beneficial ownership by a foreign person
of high-security space leased to accommodate a Federal agency, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2019
Mr. Lynch (for himself and Mr. King of New York) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the disclosure of beneficial ownership by a foreign person
of high-security space leased to accommodate a Federal agency, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Secure Government
Buildings from Espionage Act of 2019''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the Government Accountability Office has reported that
the Federal Government often leases high-security space from
private sector landlords;
(2) the General Services Administration and other Federal
agencies with leasing authority are not currently required to
collect beneficial ownership information and therefore do not
know if foreign owners have a stake in the buildings leased by
the agencies, even when the leased space is used for classified
operations or to store sensitive data; and
(3) according to a report of the Government Accountability
Office, dated January 2017, that examined the risks of foreign
ownership of Government-leased real estate, ``leasing space in
foreign-owned buildings could present security risks such as
espionage and unauthorized cyber and physical access''.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP BY FOREIGN PERSONS OF HIGH-
SECURITY SPACE LEASED FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) In General.--Before entering into a lease agreement with a
covered entity for the accommodation of a Federal agency in a building
(or other improvement) that will be used for high-security leased
space, a Federal lessee shall require the covered entity to--
(1) identify each beneficial owner of the covered entity
by--
(A) name;
(B) current residential or business street address;
and
(C) a unique identifying number from a nonexpired
passport issued by the United States or a nonexpired
drivers license issued by a State;
(2) disclose to the Federal lessee any beneficial owner of
the covered entity that is a foreign person; and
(3) if the Federal lessee is assigning the building (or
other improvement) to a Federal tenant, notify the Federal
tenant of any disclosure made under paragraph (2).
(b) Timing.--
(1) In general.--A Federal lessee shall require a covered
entity to provide the information described in subsections
(a)(1) and (a)(2) when first submitting a proposal in response
to a solicitation for offers issued by the Federal lessee.
(2) Updates.--A Federal lessee shall require a covered
entity to update a submission of the information described in
subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) not later than 60 days after the
date of any change in--
(A) the list of beneficial owners of the covered
entity; or
(B) the information required to be provided
relating to each such beneficial owner.
(c) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) Beneficial owner.--
(A) In general.--The term ``beneficial owner''
means, with respect to a covered entity, each natural
person who, directly or indirectly--
(i) exercises control over the covered
entity through ownership interests, voting
rights, agreements, or otherwise; or
(ii) has an interest in or receives
substantial economic benefits from the assets
of the covered entity.
(B) Exceptions.--The term ``beneficial owner'' does
not include, with respect to a covered entity--
(i) a minor child;
(ii) a person acting as a nominee,
intermediary, custodian, or agent on behalf of
another person;
(iii) a person acting solely as an employee
of the covered entity and whose control over or
economic benefits from the covered entity
derives solely from the employment status of
the person;
(iv) a person whose only interest in the
covered entity is through a right of
inheritance, unless the person also meets the
requirements of subparagraph (A); or
(v) a creditor of the covered entity,
unless the creditor also meets the requirements
of subparagraph (A).
(C) Anti-abuse rule.--The exceptions under
subparagraph (B) shall not apply if used for the
purpose of evading, circumventing, or abusing the
requirements of this section.
(2) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means a
person, copartnership, corporation, or other public or private
entity.
(3) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has
the meaning given the term under section 105 of title 5, United
States Code.
(4) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means any
Executive agency or any establishment in the legislative or
judicial branch of the Government.
(5) Federal lessee.--The term ``Federal lessee'' means the
Administrator of General Services, the Architect of the
Capitol, or the head of any Federal agency, other than the
Department of Defense, that has independent statutory leasing
authority.
(6) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means an
individual who is not a United States person or an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence into the United
States.
(7) High-security leased space.--The term ``high-security
leased space'' means a space leased by a Federal lessee that--
(A) will be occupied by Federal employees for
nonmilitary activities; and
(B) has a facility security level of III, IV, or V,
as determined by the Interagency Security Committee.
(8) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means a natural person who is a citizen of the United
States or who owes permanent allegiance to the United States.
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