Protecting America’s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 926 To prohibit the purchase or lease of agricultural land in the United States by persons associated with certain foreign governments, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 22, 2023 Mr. BRAUN (for himself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. TUBERVILLE, and Mr. RUBIO) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting America’s 4 Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) AGRICULTURAL LAND.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 926 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘agricultural 1 land’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 2 tion 9 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment 3 Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3508). 4 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘agricultural 5 land’’ includes land described in section 9(1) of 6 the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure 7 Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3508(1)) that is used for 8 ranching purposes. 9 (2) COVERED PERSON.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered per- 11 son’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘person 12 owned by, controlled by, or subject to the juris- 13 diction or direction of a foreign adversary’’ in 14 section 7.2 of title 15, Code of Federal Regula- 15 tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of 16 this Act), except that each reference to ‘‘foreign 17 adversary’’ in that definition shall be deemed to 18 be a reference to the government of— 19 (i) Iran; 20 (ii) North Korea; 21 (iii) the People’s Republic of China; or 22 (iv) the Russian Federation. 23 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered per- 24 son’’ does not include a United States citizen or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 926 IS an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi- 1 dence to the United States. 2 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Agriculture. 4 (4) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 5 States’’ includes any State, territory, or possession 6 of the United States. 7 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PURCHASE OR LEASE OF AGRI- 8 CULTURAL LAND IN THE UNITED STATES BY 9 PERSONS ASSOCIATED WITH CERTAIN FOR- 10 EIGN GOVERNMENTS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 12 sion of law, the President shall take such actions as may 13 be necessary to prohibit the purchase or lease by covered 14 persons of— 15 (1) public agricultural land that is owned by the 16 United States and administered by the head of any 17 Federal department or agency, including the Sec- 18 retary, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Sec- 19 retary of Defense; or 20 (2) private agricultural land located in the 21 United States. 22 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may exercise 23 all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 926 IS International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 1 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out subsection (a). 2 (c) PENALTIES.—A person that knowingly violates, 3 attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a viola- 4 tion of subsection (a) or any regulation, license, or order 5 issued to carry out that subsection shall be subject to the 6 penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 7 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 8 (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that com- 9 mits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that 10 section. 11 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 12 tion may be construed— 13 (1) to prohibit or otherwise affect the purchase 14 or lease of public or private agricultural land de- 15 scribed in subsection (a) by any person other than 16 a covered person; 17 (2) to prohibit or otherwise affect the use of 18 public or private agricultural land described in sub- 19 section (a) that is transferred to or acquired by a 20 person other than a covered person from a covered 21 person; or 22 (3) to require a covered person that owns or 23 leases public or private agricultural land described in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 926 IS subsection (a) as of the date of enactment of this 1 Act to sell that land. 2 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION IN DEPARTMENT 3 OF AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS BY PERSONS 4 ASSOCIATED WITH CERTAIN FOREIGN GOV- 5 ERNMENTS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 7 (b), notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the 8 President shall take such actions as may be necessary to 9 prohibit participation in Department of Agriculture pro- 10 grams by covered persons that have full or partial owner- 11 ship of agricultural land in the United States or lease agri- 12 cultural land in the United States. 13 (b) EXCLUSIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 14 participation in any program— 15 (1) relating to— 16 (A) food inspection or any other food safe- 17 ty regulatory requirements; or 18 (B) health and labor safety of individuals; 19 or 20 (2) administered by the Farm Service Agency, 21 with respect to the administration of this Act or the 22 Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 23 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 926 IS (c) PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP.—To participate in a De- 1 partment of Agriculture program described in subsection 2 (b) (except for a program under this Act or the Agricul- 3 tural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 4 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)), a person described in subparagraph 5 (A) of section 2(2) that is a person described in subpara- 6 graph (B) of that section shall submit to the Secretary 7 proof that the person is described in subparagraph (B) 8 of that section. 9 SEC. 5. AGRICULTURAL FOREIGN INVESTMENT DISCLO- 10 SURE. 11 (a) INCLUSION OF SECURITY INTERESTS AND 12 LEASES IN REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Agricultural 14 Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 15 U.S.C. 3508) is amended— 16 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 17 through (6) as paragraphs (5) through (7), re- 18 spectively; and 19 (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 20 following: 21 ‘‘(4) the term ‘interest’ includes— 22 ‘‘(A) a security interest; and 23 ‘‘(B) a lease, without regard to the dura- 24 tion of the lease;’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 926 IS (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2 of 1 the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act 2 of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501) is amended by striking ‘‘, 3 other than a security interest,’’ each place it ap- 4 pears. 5 (b) CIVIL PENALTY.—Section 3 of the Agricultural 6 Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 7 3502) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘exceed 25 9 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘be less than 15 percent, or 10 exceed 30 percent,’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(c) LIENS.—On imposing a penalty under sub- 13 section (a), the Secretary shall ensure that a lien is placed 14 on the agricultural land with respect to which the violation 15 occurred, which shall be released only on payment of the 16 penalty.’’. 17 (c) TRANSPARENCY.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of the Agricultural 19 Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 20 U.S.C. 3506) is amended to read as follows: 21 ‘‘SEC. 7. PUBLIC DATA SETS. 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 23 date of enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 24 2023 (Public Law 117–328), the Secretary shall publish 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 926 IS in the internet database established under section 773 of 1 division A of that Act human-readable and machine-read- 2 able data sets that— 3 ‘‘(1) contain all data that the Secretary pos- 4 sesses relating to reporting under this Act from each 5 report submitted to the Secretary under section 2; 6 and 7 ‘‘(2) as soon as practicable, but not later than 8 30 days, after the date of receipt of any report 9 under section 2, shall be updated with the data from 10 that report. 11 ‘‘(b) INCLUDED DATA.—The data sets established 12 under subsection (a) shall include— 13 ‘‘(1) a description of— 14 ‘‘(A) the purchase price paid for, or any 15 other consideration given for, each interest in 16 agricultural land for which a report is sub- 17 mitted under section 2; and 18 ‘‘(B) updated estimated values of each in- 19 terest in agricultural land described in subpara- 20 graph (A), as that information is made avail- 21 able to the Secretary, based on the most re- 22 cently assessed value of the agricultural land or 23 another comparable method determined by the 24 Secretary; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 926 IS ‘‘(2) with respect to any agricultural land for 1 which a report is submitted under section 2, updated 2 descriptions of each foreign person who holds an in- 3 terest in at least 1 percent of the agricultural land, 4 as that information is made available to the Sec- 5 retary, categorized as a majority owner or a minor- 6 ity owner that holds an interest in the agricultural 7 land.’’. 8 (2) DEADLINE FOR DATABASE ESTABLISH- 9 MENT.—Section 773 of division A of the Consoli- 10 dated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117– 11 328), is amended, in the first proviso, by striking ‘‘3 12 years’’ and inserting ‘‘2 years’’. 13 (d) DEFINITION OF FOREIGN PERSON.—Section 9(3) 14 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 15 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3508(3)) is amended— 16 (1) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(IV), by striking 17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 18 (2) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 19 after the semicolon; and 20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(E) any person, other than an individual 22 or a government, that issues equity securities 23 that are primarily traded on a foreign securities 24 exchange within— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 926 IS ‘‘(i) Iran; 1 ‘‘(ii) North Korea; 2 ‘‘(iii) the People’s Republic of China; 3 or 4 ‘‘(iv) the Russian Federation;’’. 5 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 6 (a) REPORT FROM THE SECRETARY ON FOREIGN 7 OWNERSHIP OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE UNITED 8 STATES.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 10 the date of enactment of this Act, and once every 2 11 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Con- 12 gress a report describing— 13 (A) the risks and benefits, as determined 14 by the Secretary, that are associated with for- 15 eign ownership or lease of agricultural land in 16 rural areas (as defined in section 520 of the 17 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490)); 18 (B) the intended and unintended misrepre- 19 sentation of foreign land ownership in the an- 20 nual reports prepared by the Secretary describ- 21 ing foreign holdings of agricultural land due to 22 inaccurate reporting of foreign holdings of agri- 23 cultural land; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 926 IS (C) the specific work that the Secretary 1 has undertaken to monitor erroneous reporting 2 required by the Agricultural Foreign Invest- 3 ment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et 4 seq.) that would result in a violation or civil 5 penalty; and 6 (D) the role of State and local government 7 authorities in tracking foreign ownership of ag- 8 ricultural land in the United States. 9 (2) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—In car- 10 rying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall estab- 11 lish a plan to ensure the protection of personally 12 identifiable information. 13 (b) REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL IN- 14 TELLIGENCE ON FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF AGRICUL- 15 TURAL LAND IN THE UNITED STATES.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 17 the date of enactment of this Act, and once every 2 18 years thereafter, the Director of National Intel- 19 ligence shall submit to the congressional recipients 20 described in paragraph (2) a report describing— 21 (A) an analysis of foreign malign influence 22 (as defined in section 119C(e) of the National 23 Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3059(e))) by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 926 IS covered persons that have foreign ownership in 1 the United States agriculture industry; and 2 (B) the primary motives, as determined by 3 the Director of National Intelligence, of foreign 4 investors to acquire agricultural land. 5 (2) CONGRESSIONAL RECIPIENTS DESCRIBED.— 6 The report under paragraph (1) shall be submitted 7 to— 8 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 9 and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 10 (B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri- 11 tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 12 (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 13 the Senate; 14 (D) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 15 the Senate; 16 (E) the Committee on Financial Services 17 of the House of Representatives; 18 (F) the Committee on Agriculture of the 19 House of Representatives; 20 (G) the Permanent Select Committee on 21 Intelligence of the House of Representatives; 22 (H) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 23 the House of Representatives; 24 (I) the majority leader of the Senate; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S926.IS S926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 926 IS (J) the minority leader of the Senate; 1 (K) the Speaker of the House of Rep- 2 resentatives; and 3 (L) the minority leader of the House o [Text truncated for display. 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