Today, Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) released the following statement regarding the House Financial Services Committee’s passage of H.R. 5409, the Safeguarding American Farms from Foreign Influence Act.

“Chinese nationals have breached U.S. military bases at least 100 times in recent years, secretly reporting back to the Chinese government. This issue hits close to home in Missouri, where the Chinese spy balloon crossed directly over my district last February, assaulting our privacy and security. We also have several military bases and thousands of service members, all of whom deserve airtight security as they carry out critical missions. We cannot tolerate potentially hostile Chinese entities purchasing land near these sensitive sites for the purpose of spying on us. This bill will compel the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the Department of Agriculture to work together to deflect this threat,” Rep. Luetkemeyer said.

Full text of the bill can be found HERE.

Watch Rep. Luetkemeyer's full remarks here.

Background: Since 1978, federal regulations have required foreign persons who buy, sell, or gain interest in U.S. agricultural land to disclose their holdings and transactions to USDA or to the Farm Service Agency county office where the land is located. This bill would amend the Defense Production Act to require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to determine whether a national security review is needed for any of these agricultural land transactions, as referred by the Secretary of Agriculture.