Stefanik, Rounds lead bipartisan bill to prevent China, foreign adversaries from buying into US agriculture

FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers are leading a bipartisan charge to prevent China and other foreign adversaries from buying into U.S. agriculture.

The Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act was introduced by GOP lawmakers on Tuesday that would prohibit China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea from purchasing U.S. agriculture companies.

House Republican Conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York is leading the bill in the lower chamber while Senator Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on top of the Senate bill.

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Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont., is the Senate Democrat lead on the bill while Arkansas Republican Rep. Rick Crawford is joining Stefanik on the bill in the House.

"Food security is national security, and I am proud to stand up against our foreign adversaries as they attempt to exploit any potential vulnerability and assert control over our agriculture industry," Stefanik told Fox News Digital.

"The United States cannot allow malign ownership bids of American assets by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea to undermine the efforts of our farmers, whose hard work feeds and fuels our communities," she continued. "Especially as we witness the devastating impact of a supply chain crisis, the United States cannot cede any ownership of our food supply to those who are actively working against our security interests."

"Protecting American farmland is critical to maintaining our national security," Rounds told Fox News Digital. "In my travels around South Dakota, I have heard from many farmers and ranchers who are concerned about foreign adversaries owning American farmland."

"This legislation makes certain American interests are protected by blacklisting foreign adversaries from purchasing land or businesses involved in agriculture," he continued.

Tester told Fox News Digital that as "a third-generation Montana farmer, I’m not going to sit back and let our foreign adversaries weaken our national security by buying up American farmland."

"That’s why I’m proud to be joining my friend Senator Rounds on this bipartisan effort to prevent foreign entities from acquiring U.S. farmland and ensure our farmers have a seat at the table when the government makes decisions impacting our national security," Tester said.

Crawford told Fox News Digital that the recent "reports of entities ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party buying American farmland and agriculture companies, validate the need for a more proactive posture on protecting our agriculture sector from foreign threats."

"Adversarial nations like China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea should not be given the opportunity to chip away at our economy and harm our agriculture producers who have worked diligently to create the world’s largest, safest, and most abundant food supply," Crawford said. "I appreciate colleagues like Rep. Stefanik who are willing to stand up for our farmers and bring real solutions to the table."

In addition to the prohibition on adversaries buying into U.S. agriculture, the bill would also add the Agriculture Secretary to the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment and require the president to report to Congress any waiver granted.

The secretary of agriculture would also have to report to Congress the risk that foreign purchases of American agricultural companies to the industry sector.

The bipartisan bill comes as the U.S. increases its scrutiny on China and other foreign adversaries buying up American farmland.

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Last year, Republicans sounded the alarm on the Chinese government investing in American farmland, sending a letter to three of President Biden’s Cabinet secretaries warning that national security is threatened by a Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked company's efforts to buy farmland near an Air Force base in North Dakota.

The CCP-linked farmland acquisition is far from the first land buy by the Chinese government and the purchases have been heavily scrutinized for the national security risks presented as they have been approved under both the Biden and Trump administrations.

A wind energy farm project near Del Rio, Texas, was reportedly nixed by the Texas government after it was revealed the 130,000 acre — around the size of Tulsa, Oklahoma — was only miles away from the Laughlin Air Force Base where pilots are trained.

Houston Keene is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.  Story tips can be sent to Houston.Keene@Fox.com and on Twitter: @HoustonKeene