WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03), introduced the Safeguarding American Farms from Foreign Influence Act. The legislation would empower the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist in preventing potentially hostile foreign actors from purchasing agricultural land within the United States.

“Chinese nationals have breached U.S. military bases as many as 100 times in recent years, secretly reporting our security practices back to the Chinese government. Over that same period, companies and individuals with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party have been buying American farmland near military bases which not only threatens our national security but also hands our ability to control our own food supply to foreign governments. Congress must act to stop the CCP’s attempts to take valuable farmland and undermine our military," Rep. Luetkemeyer said.

Full text of the bill can be found HERE.

Background: Since 1978, federal regulations have required foreign persons who buy, sell, or gain interest in U.S. agricultural land to disclose their holdings and transactions to USDA or to the Farm Service Agency county office where the land is located.  This bill would amend the Defense Production Act to require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to determine whether a national security review is needed for any of these agricultural land transactions, as referred by the Secretary of Agriculture.