{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-braun-push-for-increased-oversight-to-protect-american-agriculture-from-foreign-adversaries", "Grassley, Braun Push for Increased Oversight to Protect American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries", "2024-09-10", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "IA", "Chuck Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", "grassley", "https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today joined Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) to introduce the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024. The legislation would increase scrutiny of foreign bids to purchase U.S. farmland, particularly from adversaries like China, North Korea, Russia and Iran, by adding the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).\n\n\u201cWhen adversarial foreign governments buy up U.S. farmland, it undermines economic opportunities for families across America\u2019s Heartland and presents obvious national security threats. The federal government\u2019s number one job is to protect its citizens. Our legislation would support that fundamental responsibility by taking commonsense actions to address current vulnerabilities,\u201d Grassley said.\n\n\u201cChinese ownership of American farmland increased more than 20-fold in the past decade. The amount of American soil in the hands of our foreign adversaries will only go up if we do not implement restrictions and oversight, especially on nations that compromise our national security and agricultural supply chains. I\u2019m proud to lead this effort to protect American farms and food security,\u201d Braun said.\n\nThe Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act would:\n\nInclude the Secretary of Agriculture on CFIUS transactions involving agricultural land, biotech or product transport, storage and processing.\n\nAuthorize the Secretary of Agriculture to report agricultural land transactions involving foreign persons of China, North Korea, Russia or Iran, as well as those invoking the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA).\n\nJoining Grassley and Braun are Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.). Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) leads the legislation in the House of Representatives.\n\nLearn more about Grassley\u2019s longstanding work to protect American farmland:\n\nGrassley cosponsored AFIDA as a member of the House of Representatives. The 1978 law requires foreigners who acquire, sell or hold interest in U.S. farmland to disclose their transactions and assets. Last year as part of Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) appropriations, Congress modernized AFIDA by creating an internet database for investors to submit disclosures electronically. USDA has yet to fully address the errors that resulted from the previous handwritten disclosure process.\n\nThe Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act is not Grassley\u2019s only legislative effort to give CFIUS more teeth on farm transactions: similarly, his bipartisan Food Security is National Security Act would ensure top U.S. agriculture and food officials have permanent CFIUS posts. Grassley\u2019s bipartisan Farmland Security Act would ensure all foreign investors, including shell companies, report their U.S. farmland holdings. It would also strengthen penalties for those who evade filing.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-braun-push-for-increased-oversight-to-protect-american-agriculture-from-foreign-adversaries"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6839168965816498, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}