WASHINGTON — U.S. senators approved bipartisan amendments to an annual defense policy bill Tuesday night that would ban China, Iran, North Korea and Russia purchasing American farmland and American investment in high-tech ventures in foreign enemy territory.
Lawmakers approved it by a 91-7 vote measure This would require reviewing farmland deals between the four countries and ordering the president to freeze or cancel them.
The amendment would authorize the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review land transactions. committee already reviewing other inbound investment transactions,
Of the 40 million acres of U.S. forests and farmland owned by foreign investors at the end of 2021, China accounted for 383,935 acres, or less than 1%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. report on landed estates abroad.
The purchase of 300 acres of land in 2022 by a Chinese corn-processing company near an Air Force base in North Dakota has raised concerns among some lawmakers, as has the discovery in February of a Chinese surveillance system balloon hovering over Montana, where many American nuclear missiles are located.
The amendment was co-sponsored by Republican Senators Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Ted Cruz of Texas, Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven of North Dakota, Katie Britt of Alabama, and Democratic Senators Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
“In recent years, our country has witnessed direct attempts by our nearly equal competitors to seize land adjacent to our military bases,” Rounds said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “In 2020, a Chinese company planned to build a wind farm near Del Rio, Texas, just a few miles from Laughlin Air Force Base, where American pilots train.”
State lawmakers blocked the wind farm project in 2021, but recently distance green lightweight after being backed by a company from Spain.
According to 2021 USDA data, the largest area of forests and agricultural land was owned by Canadian investors, followed by investors from the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Investments abroad
Senators also voted 91-6 on an amendment to monitor investments by U.S. companies in China, Iran, North Korea and Russia in high-tech sectors including artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors, satellite communications and quantum computing.
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas have been pushing legislation since 2021 that would monitor supply chain offshoring in industries and locations that impact national security.
The annual defense bill “addresses some of the most difficult national security issues facing our nation,” Casey said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “And technological competition with the People’s Republic of China certainly tops that list.”
“Right now, we’re competing with a communist government that doesn’t play by the rules,” he continued in remarks before the vote. “The Chinese government is using economic espionage and exploiting U.S. open research and innovation to build its own capabilities.”
The total value of American foreign investments at the end of 2022 was USD 6.58 trillion, According to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The majority of this was concentrated in the UK, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland and Canada. Just over $1 trillion went to Latin America and the Western Hemisphere, while some $951 million went to Asia and the Pacific. The Middle East and Africa were at the bottom of the list with just over $80 million and $46 million respectively.
The Casey-Cornyn amendment would require U.S. corporations and other entities to notify the Treasury secretary before entering into an agreement.
Unlike foreign investment flowing into the United States, no federal mechanism controls the dollars that American companies invest abroad.
Draft defense bill
The National Defense Authorization Act is an annual defense bill that continues defense policy, nuclear weapons programs, and authorizes defense-related spending.
Lawmakers often operate huge bill as a tool for various policy matters, as Congress consistently passes legislation each year. Once the Senate bill passes, it will go to a conference committee bill passed by the House of Representatives which focuses on abortion access, transgender health, and racial equality.
The Act does not appropriate funds to the Department of Defense and other appropriate federal agencies. Rather, the Act authorizes the expenditure of funds.
The NDAA for 2022 authorized $768.2 billion.
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