What This Bill Does
This bill increases oversight of foreign purchases and leases of agricultural land in the United States. It requires foreign investors from certain countries to go through a government review process before buying or leasing farmland, and it prevents those foreign investors from receiving federal agricultural assistance.
Who It Affects
Foreign investors (people or companies from other countries) who want to buy, sell or lease agricultural land in the U.S. Federal agencies that provide agricultural assistance. State agriculture departments. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (a government committee that reviews foreign investment deals).
Key Provisions
• Requires government review of purchases or leases of agricultural land by nationals from countries designated as nonmarket economies or identified as national security risks, with proposed or pending transactions covered from the date this law takes effect (Sec. 2)
• Requires government review of purchases or leases of non-residential real estate located within 50 miles of a military installation by the same foreign nationals (Sec. 3)
• Bars federal agencies from providing assistance, including subsidies, to agricultural land holdings that are wholly or partly owned by nationals from these designated countries (Sec. 5)
• Requires foreign investors to report when they lease agricultural land for more than five years, and eliminates minimum acreage requirements for reporting foreign agricultural land holdings (Sec. 6)
• Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to publish an annual public report on foreign ownership and leasing of U.S. agricultural land, including state-by-state and county-by-county breakdowns for China, Russia and other countries the Secretary determines appropriate (Sec. 7)
What Changes
The government gains the power to review and potentially block foreign land purchases and leases under the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States review process. Foreign investors from nonmarket economy countries and countries identified as national security risks lose access to federal agricultural subsidies and assistance. Foreign land holdings become more transparent through expanded reporting requirements and public annual reports that identify which countries own or control U.S. farmland.
Important Definitions
The bill does not define "agricultural land," "nonmarket economy country," "national security risk," or other key terms. Instead, it refers to existing definitions in other laws.
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 1066
To increase oversight of foreign direct investment in agricultural land in
the United States, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 29, 2023
Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. RISCH, and Mr. TILLIS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To increase oversight of foreign direct investment in agricul-
tural land in the United States, 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 ‘‘Security and Oversight
4
for International Landholdings Act of 2023’’ or the
5
‘‘SOIL Act of 2023’’.
6
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:49 Apr 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S1066.IS
S1066
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2
•S 1066 IS
SEC. 2. REVIEW BY COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT
1
IN THE UNITED STATES OF CERTAIN AGRI-
2
CULTURAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS.
3
Section 721(a)(4) of the Defense Production Act of
4
1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565(a)(4)) is amended—
5
(1) in subparagraph (A)—
6
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and
7
inserting a semicolon;
8
(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at
9
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
10
(C) by adding at the end the following:
11
‘‘(iii) any transaction described in
12
clause (vi) or (vii) of subparagraph (B)
13
proposed or pending on or after the date of
14
the enactment of this clause.’’; and
15
(2) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end
16
the following:
17
‘‘(vi) Any acquisition or transfer of an
18
interest, other than a security, in agricul-
19
tural land held by a person that is a na-
20
tional of, or is organized under the laws or
21
otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, a
22
country—
23
‘‘(I) designated as a nonmarket
24
economy country pursuant to section
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:49 Apr 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S1066.IS
S1066
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3
•S 1066 IS
771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19
1
U.S.C. 1677(18)); or
2
‘‘(II) identified as a country that
3
poses as risk to the national security
4
of the United States in the most re-
5
cent annual report on worldwide
6
threats issued by the Director of Na-
7
tional Intelligence pursuant to section
8
108B of the National Security Act of
9
1947 (50 U.S.C. 3043b)(commonly
10
known as the ‘Annual Threat Assess-
11
ment’).’’.
12
SEC. 3. REVIEW BY COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT
13
IN THE UNITED STATES OF REAL ESTATE
14
TRANSACTIONS NEAR MILITARY INSTALLA-
15
TIONS.
16
Section 721(a)(4)(B) of the Defense Production Act
17
of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565(a)(4)(B)), as amended by sec-
18
tion 2, is amended by adding at the end the following:
19
‘‘(vii) Any acquisition or transfer of
20
an interest, other than a security, in any
21
form of real estate that is located not more
22
than 50 miles from a military installation
23
(as that term is defined in section
24
2801(c)(4) of title 10, United States Code)
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:49 Apr 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S1066.IS
S1066
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4
•S 1066 IS
other than residential property held by a
1
person that is a national of, or is organized
2
under the laws or otherwise subject to the
3
jurisdiction of, a country—
4
‘‘(I) designated as a nonmarket
5
economy country pursuant to section
6
771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19
7
U.S.C. 1677(18)); or
8
‘‘(II) identified as a country that
9
poses as risk to the national security
10
of the United States in the most re-
11
cent annual report on worldwide
12
threats issued by the Director of Na-
13
tional Intelligence pursuant to section
14
108B of the National Security Act of
15
1947 (50 U.S.C. 3043b)(commonly
16
known as the ‘Annual Threat Assess-
17
ment’).’’.
18
SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF MEMBERSHIP IN COMMITTEE ON
19
FOREIGN
INVESTMENT
IN
THE
UNITED
20
STATES.
21
Section 721(k)(6) of the Defense Production Act of
22
1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565(k)(6)) is amended to read a follows:
23
‘‘(6) OTHER MEMBERS.—The chairperson shall
24
include the heads of relevant departments, agencies,
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:49 Apr 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S1066.IS
S1066
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5
•S 1066 IS
and offices (or the designee of any such head) in any
1
review or investigation under subsection (a), on the
2
basis of the facts and circumstances of the covered
3
transaction under review or investigation.’’.
4
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN AG-
5
RICULTURAL REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS.
6
No assistance, including subsidies, may be provided
7
by any Federal agency to a person for an agricultural real
8
estate holding wholly or partly owned by a person that
9
is a national of, or is organized under the laws or other-
10
wise subject to the jurisdiction of, a country—
11
(1) designated as a nonmarket economy country
12
pursuant to section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of
13
1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(18)); or
14
(2) identified as a country that poses as risk to
15
the national security of the United States in the
16
most recent annual report on worldwide threats
17
issued by the Director of National Intelligence pur-
18
suant to section 108B of the National Security Act
19
of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3043b)(commonly known as the
20
‘‘Annual Threat Assessment’’).
21
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:49 Apr 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S1066.IS
S1066
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6
•S 1066 IS
SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREIGN AGRI-
1
CULTURAL REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS.
2
(a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 2(a) of
3
the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of
4
1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501(a)) is amended—
5
(1) in the first sentence of the matter preceding
6
paragraph (1)—
7
(A) by inserting ‘‘, or enters into a leasing
8
agreement the period of which is longer than 5
9
years with respect to agricultural land,’’ after
10
‘‘agricultural land’’; and
11
(B) by striking ‘‘acquisition or transfer’’
12
and inserting ‘‘acquisition, transfer, or lease’’;
13
and
14
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘acquired or
15
transferred’’ and inserting ‘‘acquired, transferred, or
16
leased’’.
17
(b) REVOCATION OF MINIMUM ACREAGE REQUIRE-
18
MENT.—Section 9(1) of the Agricultural Foreign Invest-
19
ment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3508(1)) is
20
amended by inserting ‘‘, subject to the condition that the
21
Secretary may not exclude land from this definition based
22
on the acreage of the land’’ before the semicolon at the
23
end.
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:49 Apr 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S1066.IS
S1066
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7
•S 1066 IS
SEC. 7. REPORTS OF HOLDINGS OF AGRICULTURAL LAND
1
IN THE UNITED STATES BY FOREIGN PER-
2
SONS.
3
Section 6 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Dis-
4
closure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3505) is amended—
5
(1) by striking the section designation and
6
heading and all that follows through ‘‘Not later
7
than’’ and inserting the following:
8
‘‘SEC. 6. REPORTS.
9
‘‘(a) TRANSMISSION OF REPORTS TO STATES.—Not
10
later than’’; and
11
(2) by adding at the end the following:
12
‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—
13
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Annually, the Secretary
14
shall prepare and make publicly available a report
15
describing holdings of agricultural land by foreign
16
persons, as determined by reports submitted under
17
section 2, including—
18
‘‘(A) an analysis of the countries with the
19
most extensive agricultural land holdings on a
20
State-by-State and county-by-county basis;
21
‘‘(B) data and an analysis of agricultural
22
land holdings in each county in the United
23
States by a foreign person from—
24
‘‘(i) the People’s Republic of China;
25
‘‘(ii) the Russian Federation; or
26
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:49 Apr 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S1066.IS
S1066
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8
•S 1066 IS
‘‘(iii) any other country that the Sec-
1
retary determines to be appropriate;
2
‘‘(C) an analysis of the sectors and indus-
3
tries for which the agricultural land holdings
4
are used; and
5
‘‘(D) in consultation with the Director of
6
the United States Geological Survey, an identi-
7
fication of countries that own or lease water
8
rights and mineral deposits on a State-by-State
9
and county-by-county basis.
10
‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION
TO
STATES.—The Sec-
11
retary shall transmit the report prepared under
12
paragraph (1) to each State department of agri-
13
culture or appropriate State agency described in
14
subsection (a) in conjunction with the applicable re-
15
ports transmitted under that subsection.’’.
16
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:49 Apr 08, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\S1066.IS
S1066
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB