{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/video-grassley-presses-usda-to-act-now-to-protect-us-farmland", "VIDEO: Grassley Presses USDA to Act Now to Protect U.S. Farmland", "2024-09-25", "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), a lifelong family farmer and a Senate Agriculture Committee member, is urging the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to share with key national security agencies its data on foreign-owned farmland.\n\n\u201cUSDA is sitting on a treasure trove of data that federal partners could use to help protect American farmers.\u201d\n\nDownload video HERE.\n\nIn a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Grassley notes the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 \u2013 which he cosponsored as a member of the House of Representatives \u2013 requires USDA to \u201ccollect, track and report reliable data on foreign investments in U.S. agricultural land.\u201d To enhance transparency and curtail malign foreign investments, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a January 2024 report recommending USDA share this data with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in a more timely fashion. While USDA agreed with GAO\u2019s recommendations, it has yet to take the necessary steps to address GAO\u2019s guidance and improve its data sharing standards.\n\n\u201cIt is crucial that USDA continue to improve its processes for collecting, tracking, and reporting data on foreign ownership and investment in U.S. agricultural land. Further, it is essential that USDA provide CFIUS and its member agencies with access to timely and detailed information on these transactions to ensure that all potential national security risks receive a thorough review,\u201d Grassley wrote to Vilsack.\n\nRead Grassley\u2019s full letter HERE.\n\nLearn more about Grassley\u2019s work to protect American farmland through his:\n\nLegislation to permanently add the Secretaries of USDA and Health and Human Services to CFIUS.\n\nLegislation to require shell companies to report their farmland assets.\n\nBipartisan push to address longstanding inaccuracies in USDA\u2019s foreign disclosure filing process.", 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/video-grassley-presses-usda-to-act-now-to-protect-us-farmland"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.610546838492155, "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"}