October 31, 2006

  Pryce Statement on CFIUS
Review of Smartmatic Corporation

Pryce, a leader on CFIUS reform, applauds review of voting machine company

Columbus , Ohio – Today, Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) issued the following statement regarding Smartmatic, a voting machine manufacturer with rumored ties to the Venezuelan government. Smartmatic recently purchased Sequoia Voting Systems Corporation,
a transaction currently under review by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS).

“Smartmatic is yet another example of the importance of placing CFIUS reform on the post-election legislative calendar. Earlier this month, I wrote a letter to the leadership in the Senate asking that they work diligently with the House to complete a CFIUS reform package before Congress adjourns this year.

“No rock should be left unturned on any deal that calls into question our national security – be it our ports or our voting booths. Strengthening the CFIUS process by increasing transparency and accountability has been a top priority of the subcommittee I chair in the House Financial Services Committee. I will continue to work with Majority Whip Blunt, Congresswoman Maloney, Congressman Crowley, and others to ensure that Smartmatic and other companies are properly investigated by the Treasury Department.”

“With only a week remaining before the November elections, it is imperative that Americans have full faith and confidence in our voting process and equipment.  I am pleased that Smartmatic is cooperating with CFIUS in the Committee’s investigation – the American people must be assured that this company has no connection to the offensively anti-American Venezuelan government.”

Pryce was an original cosponsor of the House-passed H.R. 5337, the National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act (National Security FIRST Act), legislation reforming CFIUS.  She is Chair of the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology (DIMP), which among other things oversees international investment policies, both as they relate to United States investments by American citizens for trade purposes and investments made by all foreign entities in the United States.