U.S. Senator Katie Britt Applauds House Passage of Legislation to Protect American Farmland from Adversaries

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 12, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of the companion legislation to the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024. The bipartisan legislation, which Senators Britt, Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) introduced earlier this week in the Senate, would add the Secretary of Agriculture as a permanent member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The Secretary’s inclusion to the Committee would add another layer of scrutiny on foreign acquisitions of U.S. farmland and agricultural industries. The bipartisan legislation would also specifically flag farmland purchases by foreign adversaries like China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran for CFIUS. According to the USDA, over 43.4 million acres of U.S. agricultural land is foreign-owned.

“Food security is national security and that requires America’s farmland be protected from foreign adversaries, like China. I believe one acre of American farmland owned by the Chinese Communist Party is one acre too many,” said Senator Britt. “To prevent malign actors from controlling Alabama and America’s farmland, the Secretary of Agriculture must have a seat at the table. This commonsense legislation ensures the Secretary is made a permanent member of CFIUS in order to weigh in on the needs of America’s agriculture industry when reviewing foreign investment and ownership. I’m proud to see this bicameral, bipartisan effort pass the House, and urge Senator Schumer to now bring this commonsense legislation to the Senate floor.”

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introduced the legislation in the House, and it passed by a vote of 269-149.

Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Roger Marshall (R-Kans.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) are also cosponsors of the Senate version of the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024.

The Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 would:

• Permanently include the Secretary of Agriculture as a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) with respect to covered transactions involving agricultural land, agricultural biotech, or the transportation, storage, and processing of agricultural products; and
• Authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to report both agricultural land transactions that involve foreign persons of China, North Korea, Russia, or Iran, and transactions that require AFIDA reporting to CFIUS. 

The full text of the legislation can be viewed here.

BACKGROUND:

Since taking office, Senator Britt has supported several pieces of legislation holding foreign adversaries accountable and standing up for hardworking Americans. The first piece of cosponsored legislation is the Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act, which was introduced by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Senator Britt also introduced the Not One More Inch or Acre Act with Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), which prevents any Chinese national or entity from owning American land. 

More recently, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 included an amendment sponsored by Senator Britt that would provide funding to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a streamlined and uniform process for the tracking and disclosure of all foreign investment in American farmland.

This summer, Senator Britt reiterated the need to pass the Protect Our Bases Act, legislation she introduced with Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), to protect America’s military, intelligence, and national laboratory sites.

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