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Exclusive: Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts is leading the charges with Democrat Sen. John Fetterman to codify surveillance over foreign countries buying American farmland.
The Bipartisan Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure (AFIDA) Improvement Act seeks to implement recommendations issued by the Government’s Accountability Office (GAO) in January 2024.
“Communist China is our biggest geopolitical threat,” Ricketts told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview, “This is a way to improve the disclosure that is happening with regard to the purchase of this farmland.
The proposal for the bill came as two Chinese nationals, Yunqing Jian, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, and Chengxuan Han, a student at Huazhong Science and Technology, took federal custody after being accused of smuggling biological materials into the United States.
Rickett, Fetterman cooperates to crack down on China’s attempts to buy US farmland
R-Neb. Senator Pete Ricketts proposed a bipartisan law to increase foreign surveillance to buy American farmland. (Getty Images)
The suspect is being charged with smuggling fungi known as “a potential agroterrorism weapon” into the American centre. US lawyers for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a statement using the University of Michigan lab.
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According to the fungus, the fungus causes “head devastation,” known as diseases of wheat, corn, rice and barley, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses each year. When ingested by humans, this substance can cause vomiting, liver damage, and “reproductive defects in humans and livestock.”
Homeland Security Deputy Director Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is focusing on “keeping home safe” through strengthened border screenings.
“Protecting America’s food supply and national security remains a top priority. Last week, attempts to smuggle by the Chinese citizens of Fusarium Graminiaram, a fungus that destroys dangerous crops, pose a critical bioterrorist threat and only highlight this order to combat this threat,” McLaughlin said.
“It can be very damaging to agriculture,” Ricketts told Fox News Digital. “We also know that Chinese citizens are trying to steal biotechnology when it comes to agriculture. They’ve also been crashing the gates of the base. Chinese tourists are flying drones around the base. Of course, the Chinese have flew balloons to watch over our country when the Biden administration let it happen.”
Ricketts said China is actively purchasing American agriculture. “That’s why we need to raise awareness about protecting our hometown,” he said.
Front entrance to Grand Forks Air Force Base near Grand Forks, North Dakota on May 18, 2023
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), foreign investors own more than 40 million acres of farmland in the United States, and between 2010 and 2021, Chinese ownership of American farmland increased from 13,720 acres to 383,935 acres.
“It’s not just the number of acres they own, but the fact that they own it around Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota and Fort Liberty in North Carolina.
The bill, co-sponsored by Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, John Cornyn of Texas, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Don Bacon of Nebraska, requires AFIDA reports for foreigners with more than 1% interest in American farmland.
The AFIDA Improvement Act aims to increase information sharing between the US Foreign Investment Commission and the USDA. Additionally, an update to Afida’s handbook is required, and USDA establishes a deadline for setting up an online AFIDA system.
Aerial view of farmland in Central Valley, California. (istock)
Based on GAO’s recommendations, the bill attempts to update the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to equip the USDA with better equipment to combat American farmland ownership.
“We are at the most dangerous point in our history since World War II,” Ricketts said. “We must invest in the military. We must support friends all over the world who are pushing back these dictators. Communist China is one of them.”
Furthermore, the bill comes as conflicts in the Middle East reach a boiling point between Iran and Israel, rekindling national security concerns. Israel has successfully coordinated its attacks on Iran from within, with Rickett pointing to Ukraine’s success in targeting Russian air bases.
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“What Ukraine was able to do against Russia in an operation to destroy some of its strategic bombers, and they were able to place drones near the air base and attack their squadrons.
Rickett added that American farmland should not be “a tool that enemies like Communist China can use to attack us from within our country.”
Since the bill was recently introduced, there has been little movement in it. That’s largely because Senate Republicans are focusing narrowly on pushing Trump’s “big and beautiful bill” ahead of the voluntary July 4th deadline.
Julia Bonavita and Alex Miller of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Deirdre Heavey is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
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