Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites From Foreign Adversaries Act

The "Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites From Foreign Adversaries Act" aims to bolster U.S. national and food security by significantly enhancing the authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). It specifically targets real estate transactions involving designated foreign adversary persons , which include countries like China, Russia, and Iran, or entities controlled by them. The legislation expands CFIUS's oversight to prevent potential threats arising from foreign ownership of critical U.S. assets. A central provision of the bill is the expansion of the definition of "sensitive sites" to include a wide range of locations, such as military installations, intelligence facilities, NASA sites, airports, maritime ports, and critical telecommunications infrastructure. It also defines "elevated risk real estate transactions" to encompass purchases of agricultural land or property near these sensitive sites by foreign adversary persons. This expansion mandates CFIUS review for such transactions, ensuring scrutiny over potentially compromising land acquisitions. For these elevated risk transactions, the bill establishes a strong presumption that they present an unresolvable risk to national security , requiring CFIUS to demonstrate otherwise with clear and convincing evidence and notify Congress. Furthermore, the Secretary of Agriculture is added as a permanent member of CFIUS for transactions related to agricultural land and biotechnology, emphasizing food security concerns. The bill also explicitly preserves the authority of individual states to enact their own laws restricting foreign adversary persons from acquiring real estate or agricultural land.