ICYMI: Strong national security means no CCP-owned farmland in USA

Opinion By Rep. Jodey Arrington 

10/24/24

As Seen in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

West Texas is the breadbasket of America, where our hardworking cowboys and plowboys feed and clothe our entire country and the world.

In Rural America, we understand food security is national security, but the Biden-Harris administration and Senate Democrats opposed legislation to counter China – our greatest adversarial threat – buying up American farmland. While much of the foreign purchases of agricultural land in the United States are benign – mostly belonging to investors from Canada, the Netherlands, and other allied countries – purchases by entities affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have increased by an alarming 81% since 2019, including purchases in close proximity to 19 U.S. military bases.

In the 116th Congress, legislation was passed to expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) over foreign real estate purchases that pose a national security risk.

Yet, nearly six years later, various loopholes still exist and CFIUS’s authorities need to be updated to ensure proper scrutiny towards land purchases that are connected with the CCP.

Recently, House Republicans passed the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act, legislation of which I am an original cosponsor, to close these loopholes, defend American farmland against foreign adversary ownership, and bolster national security.

It is supremely naïve and dangerous to allow our greatest adversary to purchase land next to US military installations and, furthermore, threaten our nation’s food supply.