Johnson Continues Efforts to Protect American Agriculture from China

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and members of the Select Committee on China introduced the Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act to protect American farmland, military facilities, and critical infrastructure from malign attempts to control American land by foreign adversaries like China.

"I've been sounding the alarm for years that China has no good intentions when they purchase U.S. farmland, ag businesses, or land near military bases," said Johnson. "The Chinese Communist Party is focused on collecting our private data, influencing our food supply, and threatening our national security. Their goal is to make America - and the world - look more like China, not like freedom. The Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act will ensure none of America's adversaries can gain a grip on critical U.S. property."

"Food security is national security, and we cannot allow foreign adversaries like China to buy up American farmland near our most sensitive military and critical infrastructure sites," said Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar(R-MI). "This bipartisan legislation closes dangerous loopholes, presumptively bars foreign adversaries from purchasing land, and ensures the United States has the tools to stop these farmland deals before they threaten our security. It also implements the Trump Administration's America First Investment Policy and USDA's Farm Security Action Plan by giving the administration the authority needed to protect United States farmland and real estate near sensitive facilities. This a top concern of the American people and I hope Congress will act quickly to pass it into law."

"Foreign adversaries, led by China, have exploited gaps in federal law to acquire American land near our military bases, critical infrastructure, and food supply. We must treat food security as national security, and the federal government needs the jurisdiction and the tools to stop these transactions before they happen, not to negotiate mitigation agreements after the fact. States have led on this issue for years, and federal law should reinforce their efforts. Legislation is needed to close these loopholes and protect critical American infrastructure and American communities, and the provisions of this bill do just that," said Adam Savit, Director for China Policy at American First Policy Institute, former Senior Advisor for National Security at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Johnson has a long record of protecting American farmland from the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign adversaries. He has cosponsored the Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act, Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act, Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People's Republic of China Act, and more. Johnson is a recognized leader in Congress on the fight to safeguard America from the China threat.

Background:

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) lacks authority over most transactions involving real estate, which has tied the United States' hands as malign entities hold American food security at risk and secure footholds near our critical infrastructure, which includes military facilities.

This bill will empower the United States to investigate and mitigate foreign adversary land purchases that present national security threats, and will ensure that any such purchases involving farmland, critical infrastructure, or military bases are subject to a mandatory CFIUS review. The bill also elevates food security as an explicit factor in how CFIUS should evaluate national security risks.

The Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act:

• Grants CFIUS jurisdiction over all foreign adversary real estate purchases
• Expands existing CFIUS real estate jurisdiction to cover critical infrastructure
• Preserves existing exceptions for residential and urban real estate for non-adversary investors
• Requires mandatory CFIUS filing and investigation for foreign adversary real estate purchases involving critical infrastructure or farmland
• Requires CFIUS reviews to consider food security and biosecurity threats
• Adds the Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS for agricultural and biotechnology-related transactions
• Establishes a presumption that foreign adversary purchases of farmland and critical infrastructure will be prohibited by default, unless CFIUS review establishes that the transaction's national security risks can be resolved through other means

The Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act is cosponsored by U.S. Representatives John Moolenaar (R-MI), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Zach Nunn (R-IA), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Pat Harrigan (R-NC), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), and Mike Thompson (D-CA).

Click here for bill text.