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WASHINGTON – Lattice Semiconductor, the third-largest American producer of a critical technology for U.S. military applications, has announced plans to be acquired by an American venture capital firm with significant ties to China’s communist government.

Due to serious national security concerns, Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) has written Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urging the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to block the transaction. A bipartisan coalition of 21 Members of Congress co-signed Congressman Pittenger’s letter.

“We are concerned with this transaction as CBCP (Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, the venture capital firm) appears to be directly affiliated with the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and further appears to be a legal construction intended to obfuscate the involvement of numerous PRC state-owned enterprises during the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review process,” writes Congressman Pittenger.

“As you know, Lattice is the third largest American producer of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technologies. FPGA technologies are critical to American military applications, and the purchase of an American FPGA designer and manufacturer by a PRC-affiliated firm could disrupt the military supply chain and possibly lead to a reliance on foreign-sourced technologies for many critical Defense Department programs.”

Congressman Pittenger’s full letter to Secretary Lew is attached. The bipartisan letter was co-signed by Members of Congress Mike Rogers (R-AL, House Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chair), Steve Chabot (R-OH, House Small Business Committee Chair), Chris Smith (R-NJ, Congressional-Executive Commission on China Chair), James McGovern (D-MA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Robert Aderholt (R-AL, House Appropriations Subcommittee Chair), Walter Jones (R-NC), Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA, House Emerging Threats Subcommittee Chair), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Doug Lamborn (R-CO, House Strategic Forces Subcommittee Vice Chair), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Ralph Abraham (R-LA), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), and Jackie Speier (D-CA).

Congressman Pittenger serves as Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, and Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Committee Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing.