WASHINGTON – Today, Sens. Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa), a lifelong farmer and member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) introduced the bipartisan Farmland Security Act
to increase scrutiny over foreign investments in American agricultural land.
The legislation ensures that the American people and Congress have the
information needed to address the impact foreign investments have on family
farms, rural communities and the domestic food supply.
“I’ve been sounding the alarm on the
increase in foreign-own farmland for decades and was the original author of the
Agriculture Foreign Investment Disclosure Act. Foreign buyers,
especially those backed by governments like China, buying up prime farmland
here in the U.S. raises serious national security concerns – and the American
people have a right to know about it. By requiring the USDA to report these
purchases in real time, we can keep better track of the impact these
acquisitions could have on our rural communities. The Farmland Security Act
will also help protect domestic food production and our national security
interests,” Grassley said.
“I am proud to advocate for our
agriculture industry by introducing the American Farmland Security Act,” Baldwin said. “This bipartisan
legislation will provide the tools we need to protect the longevity of American
family farm operations for generations to come.”
The Agricultural
Foreign Investment Disclosure Act requires foreign entities to disclose
their purchases of American agricultural land. Current reporting shows that
foreign-owned agricultural acreage has nearly doubled in the past decade;
however, the data that has been collected is incomplete and inaccurate.
To protect American farmers, rural
communities and domestic food supply, the Farmland
Security Act:
- Requires the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) to report to Congress on foreign investments
in agricultural land in the U.S., including the impact foreign ownership has on
family farms, rural communities and the domestic food supply;
- Requires the USDA
to publish all prior-year disclosures of foreign investments in agricultural
land in the U.S. on an interactive and public USDA database and make real-time
updates to the database as disclosures are filed.
A summary of the legislation is available
HERE.
Full text of the legislation is available
HERE.
Last year, Grassley also introduced the
Food
Security is National Security Act to give top U.S. agriculture and food officials permanent
representation on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
(CFIUS). Learn more about Grassley’s years-long effort to address this issue
HERE.
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