The Senate voted overwhelmingly to include an amendment to prevent future purchases of American agricultural land by foreign adversaries to the must-pass annual national defense bill on Tuesday.
The vote passed with bipartisan support 91-7. The only senators to vote against the measure were Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Rand Paul (R-KY), Peter Welch (D-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT).
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The amendment was offered by Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) in an effort to prevent countries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran from purchasing American farmland. The Senators said there were concerns after reports of China posing an even greater national security risk by acquiring U.S. farmland near military installations.
“In recent years, our country has seen firsthand attempts by our near-peer competitors to acquire land adjacent to our military bases,” Rounds said ahead of the vote on Tuesday on the Senate floor, mentioning an effort in 2022 by a Chinese government-linked company to buy a large plot of land miles from a crucial military drone base in North Dakota.
“This demonstrates the need for my amendment,” Rounds added.
The amendment would enable the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review all significant agriculture-related foreign investments using data from the Department of Agriculture. It would also empower the committee to stop future purchases of farmland by foreign adversaries as well. CFIUS is an interagency committee with representatives from the Departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Treasury, in addition to a dozen other agencies, that reviews the security implications of foreign investments in the U.S.
“As a third-generation farmer, I know that food security is national security,” Tester said. “Allowing our foreign adversaries like China to invest in American ag land and agribusinesses threatens American businesses and puts our food security and national security at risk.”
The amendment is similar to a bill introduced by Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) earlier this year that would require a review of a purchase or lease by a foreign entity that exceeds 320 acres of land valued at more than $5 million. The duo argued that U.S. law does not provide enough oversight of which foreign adversaries are buying farmland and the location of where they are purchasing the real estate.
“America is not for sale. There is no ignoring that China is in our own backyard and buying up land near our critical military installations,” Ernst said in a statement on Tuesday. “I have worked to close the loopholes that have allowed the Chinese Communist Party to encroach on our farmland, and today I am proud to see those efforts are helping to strengthen our national security and combat our foreign adversaries. As Iowa farmers know, food security is national security.”
According to the Department of Agriculture, foreign ownership of U.S. land has almost doubled in the past decade. The most recent USDA report with data through the end of 2021 found Canadian investors owned 31% or 12.8 million acres, and China has less than 1% of foreign-owned land at just over 380,000 acres total.
A growing number of U.S. lawmakers at the state level have also been attempting to ban foreign ownership of farmland, specifically by China. Florida most recently joined at least seven other states to pass bills in their state legislatures this session, according to the National Agricultural Law Center.
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Earlier in the day on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged his colleagues to vote for the amendment, emphasizing that the Senators will work through any concerns in the conference process.
“I appreciate the cooperation of senators on both sides as we work to lock in these votes,” Schumer said on the floor on Tuesday afternoon. “We have a chance to show the American people that the Senate can work productively on our national defense, in stark contrast to the partisan race to the bottom that we saw over in the House.”
