Bacon and Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect U.S. Farmland From Foreign Ownership

Washington – Today, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE-02) along with Reps. Mark Alford (R-MO-04), Michael Bost (R-IL-12), Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28), Brad Finstad (R-MN-01), Ashley Hinson (R-IA-02), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06), Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19) introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 7131, the AFIDA Improvements Act of 2024, to address concerns about foreign farmland ownership.

This bill will codify recommendations published by the GAO after they conducted a study of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA). In short, by codifying the GAO recommendations, Congress will be better able to hold USDA accountable and amend AFIDA where needed to empower better data reporting and review. 

Rep. Bacon and the other co-sponsors issued the following joint statement:

“We joined together to find a bipartisan path to address the national security concerns stemming from the growing purchases of farmland by the Chinese Communist Party. This legislation, among other things, will ensure that there is timely and detailed data sharing of foreign investments in agricultural land, better reviewing and validating of information, and identify those foreign entities who do not file notification they have purchased land in the United States. Having actual processes in place will strengthen the security of our nation in the event nefarious foreign agents, such as the CCP, try to purchase agricultural lands within our nation. These lands must be protected as they are essential to feeding our country and other parts of the world, feeding livestock, fueling vehicles, and other uses.”

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