S. 618

118 S618 IS: Protecting America’s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act of 2025
 U.S. Senate
 2025-02-18
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 618  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   February 18, 2025   Mr. Tuberville  (for himself and  Mr. Banks ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry    A BILL
To prohibit the purchase or lease of agricultural land in the United States by persons associated with certain foreign governments, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Protecting America’s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act of 2025  .
2.
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
Agricultural land
(A)
In general
The term  agricultural land  has the meaning given the term in section 9 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3508 ).
(B)
Inclusion
The term  agricultural land  includes land described in section 9(1) of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3508(1) ) that is used for ranching purposes.
(2)
Covered person
(A)
In general
The term  covered person  has the meaning given the term  person owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary  in section 7.2 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act), except that each reference to  foreign adversary  in that definition shall be deemed to be a reference to the government of—
(i)
Iran;
(ii)
North Korea;
(iii)
the People's Republic of China; or
(iv)
the Russian Federation.
(B)
Exclusions
The term  covered person  does not include a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States.
(3)
Secretary
The term  Secretary  means the Secretary of Agriculture.
(4)
United States
The term  United States  includes any State, territory, or possession of the United States.
3.
Prohibition on purchase or lease of agricultural land in the United States by persons associated with certain foreign governments
(a)
In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President shall take such actions as may be necessary to prohibit the purchase or lease by covered persons of—
(1)
public agricultural land that is owned by the United States and administered by the head of any Federal department or agency, including the Secretary, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Defense; or
(2)
private agricultural land located in the United States.
(b)
Implementation
The President may exercise all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out subsection (a).
(c)
Penalties
A person that knowingly violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of subsection (a) or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out that subsection shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1705 ) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.
(d)
Rule of construction
Nothing in this section may be construed—
(1)
to prohibit or otherwise affect the purchase or lease of public or private agricultural land described in subsection (a) by any person other than a covered person;
(2)
to prohibit or otherwise affect the use of public or private agricultural land described in subsection (a) that is transferred to or acquired by a person other than a covered person from a covered person; or
(3)
to require a covered person that owns or leases public or private agricultural land described in subsection (a) as of the date of enactment of this Act to sell that land.
4.
Prohibition on participation in Department of Agriculture programs by persons associated with certain foreign governments
(a)
In general
Except as provided in subsection (b), notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the President shall take such actions as may be necessary to prohibit participation in Department of Agriculture programs by covered persons that have full or partial ownership of agricultural land in the United States or lease agricultural land in the United States.
(b)
Exclusions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to participation in any program—
(1)
relating to—
(A)
food inspection or any other food safety regulatory requirements; or
(B)
health and labor safety of individuals; or
(2)
administered by the Farm Service Agency, with respect to the administration of this Act or the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. ).
(c)
Proof of citizenship
To participate in a Department of Agriculture program described in subsection (b) (except for a program under this Act or the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. )), a person described in subparagraph (A) of section 2(2) that is a person described in subparagraph (B) of that section shall submit to the Secretary proof that the person is described in subparagraph (B) of that section.
5.
Agricultural foreign investment disclosure
(a)
Inclusion of security interests and leases in reporting requirements
(1)
In general
Section 9 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3508 ) is amended—
(A)
by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (6) as paragraphs (5) through (7), respectively; and
(B)
by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
(4)
the term  interest  includes—
(A)
a security interest; and
(B)
a lease, without regard to the duration of the lease;
 .
(2)
Conforming amendment
Section 2 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3501 ) is amended by striking  , other than a security interest,  each place it appears.
(b)
Civil penalty
Section 3 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3502 ) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (b), by striking  exceed 25 percent  and inserting  be less than 15 percent, or exceed 30 percent, ; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(c)
Liens
On imposing a penalty under subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that a lien is placed on the agricultural land with respect to which the violation occurred, which shall be released only on payment of the penalty.
 .
(c)
Transparency
Section 7 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3506 ) is amended to read as follows:
7.
Public data sets
(a)
In general
The Secretary shall publish in the internet database established under section 742 of division B of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 ( 7 U.S.C. 3501  note;  Public Law 118–42 ) human-readable and machine-readable data sets that—
(1)
contain all data that the Secretary possesses relating to reporting under this Act from each report submitted to the Secretary under section 2; and
(2)
as soon as practicable, but not later than 30 days, after the date of receipt of any report under section 2, shall be updated with the data from that report.
(b)
Included data
The data sets established under subsection (a) shall include—
(1)
a description of—
(A)
the purchase price paid for, or any other consideration given for, each interest in agricultural land for which a report is submitted under section 2; and
(B)
updated estimated values of each interest in agricultural land described in subparagraph (A), as that information is made available to the Secretary, based on the most recently assessed value of the agricultural land or another comparable method determined by the Secretary; and
(2)
with respect to any agricultural land for which a report is submitted under section 2, updated descriptions of each foreign person who holds an interest in at least 1 percent of the agricultural land, as that information is made available to the Secretary, categorized as a majority owner or a minority owner that holds an interest in the agricultural land.
 .
(d)
Definition of foreign person
Section 9(3) of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3508(3) ) is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (C)(ii)(IV), by striking  and  at the end;
(2)
in subparagraph (D), by inserting  and  after the semicolon; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:
(E)
any person, other than an individual or a government, that issues equity securities that are primarily traded on a foreign securities exchange within—
(i)
Iran;
(ii)
North Korea;
(iii)
the People's Republic of China; or
(iv)
the Russian Federation;
 .
6.
Reports
(a)
Report from the Secretary on foreign ownership of agricultural land in the United States
(1)
In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and once every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing—
(A)
the risks and benefits, as determined by the Secretary, that are associated with foreign ownership or lease of agricultural land in rural areas (as defined in section 520 of the Housing Act of 1949 ( 42 U.S.C. 1490 ));
(B)
the intended and unintended misrepresentation of foreign land ownership in the annual reports prepared by the Secretary describing foreign holdings of agricultural land due to inaccurate reporting of foreign holdings of agricultural land;
(C)
the specific work that the Secretary has undertaken to monitor erroneous reporting required by the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. ) that would result in a violation or civil penalty; and
(D)
the role of State and local government authorities in tracking foreign ownership of agricultural land in the United States.
(2)
Protection of information
In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall establish a plan to ensure the protection of personally identifiable information.
(b)
Report from the Director of National Intelligence on foreign ownership of agricultural land in the United States
(1)
In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and once every 2 years thereafter, the Director of National Intelligence shall submit to the congressional recipients described in paragraph (2) a report describing—
(A)
an analysis of foreign malign influence (as defined in section 119C(f) of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3059(f) )) by covered persons that have foreign ownership in the United States agriculture industry; and
(B)
the primary motives, as determined by the Director of National Intelligence, of foreign investors to acquire agricultural land.
(2)
Congressional recipients described
The report under paragraph (1) shall be submitted to—
(A)
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate;
(B)
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate;
(C)
the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate;
(D)
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
(E)
the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives;
(F)
the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives;
(G)
the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives;
(H)
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives;
(I)
the majority leader of the Senate;
(J)
the minority leader of the Senate;
(K)
the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and
(L)
the minority leader of the House of Representatives.
(3)
Classification
The report under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in an unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(c)
Government Accountability Office report
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report describing—
(1)
a review of resources, staffing, and expertise for carrying out the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. ), and enforcement issues limiting the effectiveness of that Act; and
(2)
any recommended necessary changes to that Act.