The Texas Senate has approved a law that would prevent Chinese citizens from purchasing certain types of farmland. Senate Bill 147 is aimed at prohibiting citizens of nations deemed hostile to the US, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, from buying farmland.
Lawmakers fear that the sale of such land to individuals hostile to America could jeopardize the country’s food security. The bill also seeks to ban Chinese ownership of oil, timber, and mineral-bearing land.
Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst justified the bill as necessary to ensure the US can fend off foreign threats. “Food security is national security,” she said. “Oil and gas, our rare earth materials, timber – we need to be protecting that.”
However, Democrats in the state criticized the bill, with State Representative Gene Wu arguing that the legislation “takes away the rights of an entire class of people without due process and solely on the basis of their national origin.”
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida also wants to prevent Chinese ownership of American farmland. “We want no CCP land purchases, and obviously, they are not going to do it directly,” he said. “They will have shell companies, so we’re going to have to have a system in place to scrutinize this.” DeSantis added that he didn’t understand why the Chinese Communist Party would want to buy farmland or own critical infrastructure near military bases.
This issue has raised serious concerns in other parts of the US as well. A report by Fox News highlighted that “some lawmakers and agriculture advocates are warning about the potential for foreign investors, including those from China, to buy up land used to grow food, citing national security concerns about protecting the country’s food supply.”
While the issue of national security is of utmost importance, some are concerned that the legislation unfairly discriminates against individuals based on their national origin. In any case, it is clear that the US government is taking steps to protect its food security by limiting foreign ownership of farmland.
Watch Sen. Tom Cotton explain how his legislation would ban foreign nationals from buying up US soil:
Join the Discussion
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.