II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 684 

To prohibit the acquisition and ownership of agricultural land by certain 

foreign entities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2023 

Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To prohibit the acquisition and ownership of agricultural 

land by certain foreign entities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘This Land Is Our 

5 Land Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AGRICULTURAL LAND.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘agricultural 

10 land’’ means— 


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1 (i) land used for farming, ranching, or 

2 timber production; 

3 (ii) land used for food processing; and 

4 (iii) land that— 

5 (I) is currently idle; and 

6 (II) was used within the previous 

7 5 years for farming, ranching, or tim8 ber production. 

9 (B) RELATED DEFINITIONS.—In subpara10 graph (A): 

11 (i) FARMING, RANCHING, OR TIMBER

12 PRODUCTION.—The term ‘‘farming, ranch13 ing, or timber production’’ includes activi14 ties set forth in the Standard Industrial 

15 Classification Manual (1987), Division A. 

16 (ii) FOOD PROCESSING.—The term 

17 ‘‘food processing’’ includes activities set 

18 forth in the Standard Industrial Classifica19 tion Manual (1987), Division D, Major 

20 Group 20. 

21 (2) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term 

22 ‘‘covered foreign entity’’ means— 

23 (A) a corporation that is incorporated in 

24 the People’s Republic of China, including the 


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1 Special Administrative Regions of China, in2 cluding Hong Kong and Macau; 

3 (B) a person, business trust, business asso4 ciation, company, institution, government agen5 cy, university, partnership, limited liability com6 pany, corporation, or any other individual or or7 ganization that can legally enter into contracts, 

8 own properties, or pay taxes on behalf of the 

9 Government of the People’s Republic of China; 

10 (C) an individual or organization affiliated 

11 with the Chinese Communist Party; 

12 (D) an entity owned or controlled by, or 

13 that performs activities on behalf of, an indi14 vidual, organization, or person described in sub15 paragraph (A), (B), or (C); and 

16 (E) an individual that is a member of the 

17 board of directors, an executive officer, or a 

18 senior official of a corporation or organization 

19 described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or 

20 (D). 

21 (3) NONCOMPETE AGREEMENT.—The term 

22 ‘‘noncompete agreement’’ means an agreement en23 tered into between an employer and an employee 

24 that restricts that employee from performing, after 


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1 the employment relationship between the employer 

2 and the employee terminates, any of the following: 

3 (A) Any work for another employer for a 

4 specified period of time. 

5 (B) Any work in a specified geographical 

6 area. 

7 (C) Any work for another employer that is 

8 similar to that employee’s work for the em9 ployer that is a party to that agreement. 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

12 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

13 the several States of the United States. 

14 (6) TERRITORY.—The term ‘‘territory’’ 

15 means— 

16 (A) the District of Columbia; 

17 (B) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

18 (C) the United States Virgin Islands; 

19 (D) Guam; 

20 (E) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

21 Mariana Islands; and 

22 (F) American Samoa. 

23 (7) UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL LAND.— 

24 The term ‘‘United States agricultural land’’ means 

25 agricultural land located in a State or territory. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF ACQUISITION, LEASING, OR OWN2 ERSHIP OF UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL 

3 LAND BY COVERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

4 (a) PROHIBITION OF ACQUISITION OF AGRICUL5 TURAL LAND.—It shall be unlawful for a covered foreign 

6 entity— 

7 (1) to acquire any interest in United States ag8 ricultural land; or 

9 (2) to lease any interest in United States agri10 cultural land. 

11 (b) DIVESTMENT REQUIREMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, a covered foreign 

14 entity that owns or leases an interest in United 

15 States agricultural land shall divest itself from any 

16 ownership or lease interests in United States agri17 cultural land. 

18 (2) LETTERS OF INTENT.—Not later than 1 

19 year after the date of enactment of this Act, a cov20 ered foreign entity that owns or leases an interest in 

21 United States agricultural land shall sign a letter of 

22 intent to divest itself from any ownership or lease in23 terests in United States agricultural land. 

24 (c) PENALTY.—The Secretary shall fine a covered 

25 foreign entity that owns or leases an interest in United 

26 States agricultural land in violation of subsection (a) or 


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1 (b) in an amount equal to $100 per acre per day that 

2 the covered entity owns or leases the interest in violation 

3 of subsection (a) or (b). 

4 (d) CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT.— 

5 (1) PENALTIES.—A covered foreign entity that 

6 violates subsection (a) or (b) shall be fined under 

7 title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not 

8 more than 5 years, or both. 

9 (2) FORFEITURE.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—In an action brought 

11 by the Attorney General, any United States ag12 ricultural land owned in violation of subsection 

13 (a) or (b) shall be subject to forfeiture to the 

14 United States in accordance with chapter 46 of 

15 title 18, United States Code. 

16 (B) PUBLIC AUCTION OF FORFEITED

17 LAND.—Notwithstanding section 981(e) of title 

18 18, United States Code, the Attorney General 

19 shall sell through a public auction any United 

20 States agricultural land that is forfeited to the 

21 United States under this paragraph. 

22 (e) NULLIFICATION OF AGREEMENTS.—Notwith23 standing any other provision of law, any noncompete 

24 agreement entered into between a covered foreign entity 

25 that owns or leases an interest in United States agriculVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S684.IS S684

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1 tural land and an employee of the covered foreign entity 

2 shall have no force or effect. 

3 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary, in coordination with the Attorney General, 

7 shall issue guidance and regulations to implement 

8 this Act. 

9 (2) OFFICE.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es11 tablish an office within the Department of Agri12 culture for the purpose of— 

13 (A) monitoring compliance with this Act; 

14 and 

15 (B) imposing fines under subsection (c). 

16 (g) INVESTIGATIVE ACTIONS.—The Secretary may 

17 carry out such actions as the Secretary determines to be 

18 necessary to monitor compliance with this Act. 

Æ 


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