'U.S. Government Has No Way to Track Foreign Adversary Land Purchases' - Gallagher Testifies Before Ag Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party testified this morning before the House Agriculture Committee at a hearing entitled 'The Danger China Poses to American Agriculture.' Select Committee Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem testified alongside Chairman Gallagher.

"To put it bluntly, the CCP is actively engaged in economic warfare against the United States, and our agricultural sector is a prime target and a priority for the Chinese Communist Party," Chairman Gallagher told the committee.

"There are dangerous loopholes in our CFIUS process that allow PRC and other malign actors to purchase our farmland and acquire real estate in proximity to sensitive national security sites," Gallagher continued.

Chairman Gallagher highlighted two pieces of legislation to address the growing threat posed by CCP-backed U.S. land purchases. First, Congress should pass the Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites From Foreign Adversaries Act. The bill grants the President's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States jurisdiction to screen all land purchases by foreign adversary entities and require mandatory screening for land purchases near sensitive locations, including military facilities.

Second, Congress should pass the BIOSECURE Act which would rid the United States of foreign adversary biotech companies that are working to acquire the genetic sequences of plants and animals from American farmers.

Read Chairman Gallagher's full remarks as prepared for delivery HERE.

Watch the House Agriculture Committee's full hearing HERE.