Yakima Times

Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04) introduced the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act today. The bill aims to add the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and take necessary actions to prohibit the purchase of U.S. agricultural land by foreign adversaries.

“Food security is national security, and for too long, the federal government has allowed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to put our security at risk by turning a blind eye to their steadily increasing purchases of American farmland,” said Rep. Newhouse.

Newhouse continued, “It is not enough to just discuss this issue—we must take immediate action to stop the CCP from further encroachment. By adding the Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS, we can ensure much-needed oversight of agricultural land purchases by foreign adversaries, which will protect American farmers and the industry as a whole. The Chinese Communist Party has long sought to undermine our institutions and very way of life, and I am proud to lead this effort to support farmers in Central Washington and across the nation.”

The bill adds the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS for transactions involving land, biotechnology, transportation, storage, and processing. It also requires the Secretary to report any transaction that can be considered a threat to national security.

Rep. Newhouse is a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, tasked with finding bipartisan solutions to address threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party and developing a plan of action to defend Americans' interests.

Full bill text can be found here.

###