Staff Reports
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party just shoved a spotlight back onto a simple, urgent idea: don’t let hostile powers buy land next to our bases, ports, and power plants. The committee posted a blunt video and social message pushing Representative John R. Moolenaar’s H.R. 8700 — the Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites From Foreign Adversaries Act — and Congress should stop treating that push like background noise.
What H.R. 8700 actually does
The bill would expand CFIUS authority — that’s the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States — to cover more purchases of farmland and real estate near sensitive sites. It creates a new “elevated risk” class for land transactions close to military bases, ports, data centers, and power plants. It also shifts the practical burden: deals by buyers tied to foreign adversaries would be presumed risky and the buyer would have to prove otherwise. The Secretary of Agriculture would join reviews when farmland or agricultural tech is involved. In plain terms: more eyes on who owns our dirt, and tougher rules when the neighbors look like enemies.
Why this matters — examples and facts
Lawmakers point to real cases — like the controversy over a China-linked agribusiness buying land near an Air Force base — and to the USDA numbers that show millions of acres held by foreign persons. The total foreign figure is headline-grabbing, but the key threat is strategic location, not just acreage. GAO audits have also warned that federal data on foreign land holdings is patchy. If you believe property rights are sacred, fine — but property rights don’t include the right to set up shop next to a weapons range or a power plant when your home government is an adversary.
Why Congress should stop stalling
H.R. 8700 sits in committee while the Select Committee posts videos and urges action. States have started to step in with their own bans, which shows the federal system is failing to act fast enough. This is not rocket science: give CFIUS clearer authority, make food security a part of national-security reviews, and prevent hostile actors from buying front-row seats to our infrastructure. If lawmakers drag their feet, they’ll force the rest of us to rely on a patchwork of state rules and good luck.
Congress should treat the Select Committee’s push as a wake-up call, not a social-media meme. Passing H.R. 8700 would be a simple, bipartisan move to protect food security, military readiness, and critical infrastructure. If Washington wants to be serious about competition with the Chinese Communist Party, start by keeping our fields and sensitive sites out of their reach — before someone else plants a different kind of crop in our backyard.
