22 U.S.C. § 3141: Congressional findings

The United States Government collects substantial amounts of information from foreign owned or controlled business enterprises or affiliates operating in the United States. Additional analysis and presentation of this information is desirable to assist the public debate on the issue of foreign direct investments in the United States. Information collected from foreign owned or controlled firms by the Bureau of Economic Analysis has serious analytical limitations because it is largely collected on an “enterprise” basis that does not permit an adequate analysis by industry groupings. Statistical and analytic comparisons of the performance of foreign owned or controlled businesses operating within the United States with other business enterprises operating within the same industry can be accomplished under sections 3101(b) and 3104(c) of this title, and under Executive Order Numbered 11961, without the need to collect additional information, by sharing with other authorized Government agencies the employer identification numbers maintained by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Public disclosures of confidential business information collected by the United States Government relating to international direct investment flows could cause serious damage to the accuracy of the statistical data base. The Government Accountability Office may have limited access to Government data on foreign direct investment.