Protecting America’s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act of 2023

Subjects: Agriculture and Food


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 926 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 926

 To prohibit the purchase or lease of agricultural land in the United 
States by persons associated with certain foreign governments, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2023

  Mr. Braun (for himself, Mr. Tester, Mr. Tuberville, and Mr. Rubio) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the purchase or lease of agricultural land in the United 
States by persons associated with certain foreign governments, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting America's Agricultural 
Land from Foreign Harm Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Agricultural land.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``agricultural land'' has 
                the meaning given the term in section 9 of the 
                Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 
                (7 U.S.C. 3508).
                    (B) Inclusion.--The term ``agricultural land'' 
                includes land described in section 9(1) of the 
                Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 
                (7 U.S.C. 3508(1)) that is used for ranching purposes.
            (2) Covered person.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``covered person'' has 
                the meaning given the term ``person owned by, 
                controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or 
                direction of a foreign adversary'' in section 7.2 of 
                title 15, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 
                the date of enactment of this Act), except that each 
                reference to ``foreign adversary'' in that definition 
                shall be deemed to be a reference to the government 
                of--
                            (i) Iran;
                            (ii) North Korea;
                            (iii) the People's Republic of China; or
                            (iv) the Russian Federation.
                    (B) Exclusions.--The term ``covered person'' does 
                not include a United States citizen or an alien 
                lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United 
                States.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (4) United states.--The term ``United States'' includes any 
        State, territory, or possession of the United States.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PURCHASE OR LEASE OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE 
              UNITED STATES BY PERSONS ASSOCIATED WITH CERTAIN FOREIGN 
              GOVERNMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
President shall take such actions as may be necessary to prohibit the 
purchase or lease by covered persons of--
            (1) public agricultural land that is owned by the United 
        States and administered by the head of any Federal department 
        or agency, including the Secretary, the Secretary of the 
        Interior, and the Secretary of Defense; or
            (2) private agricultural land located in the United States.
    (b) Implementation.--The President may exercise all authorities 
provided under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out subsection 
(a).
    (c) Penalties.--A person that knowingly violates, attempts to 
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of subsection (a) 
or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out that 
subsection shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections 
(b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits 
an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            (1) to prohibit or otherwise affect the purchase or lease 
        of public or private agricultural land described in subsection 
        (a) by any person other than a covered person;
            (2) to prohibit or otherwise affect the use of public or 
        private agricultural land described in subsection (a) that is 
        transferred to or acquired by a person other than a covered 
        person from a covered person; or
            (3) to require a covered person that owns or leases public 
        or private agricultural land described in subsection (a) as of 
        the date of enactment of this Act to sell that land.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION IN DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
              PROGRAMS BY PERSONS ASSOCIATED WITH CERTAIN FOREIGN 
              GOVERNMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), 
notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the President shall 
take such actions as may be necessary to prohibit participation in 
Department of Agriculture programs by covered persons that have full or 
partial ownership of agricultural land in the United States or lease 
agricultural land in the United States.
    (b) Exclusions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to participation in 
any program--
            (1) relating to--
                    (A) food inspection or any other food safety 
                regulatory requirements; or
                    (B) health and labor safety of individuals; or
            (2) administered by the Farm Service Agency, with respect 
        to the administration of this Act or the Agricultural Foreign 
        Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
    (c) Proof of Citizenship.--To participate in a Department of 
Agriculture program described in subsection (b) (except for a program 
under this Act or the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 
1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)), a person described in subparagraph (A) 
of section 2(2) that is a person described in subparagraph (B) of that 
section shall submit to the Secretary proof that the person is 
described in subparagraph (B) of that section.

SEC. 5. AGRICULTURAL FOREIGN INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE.

    (a) Inclusion of Security Interests and Leases in Reporting 
Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Section 9 of the Agricultural Foreign 
        Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3508) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (6) as 
                paragraphs (5) through (7), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) the term `interest' includes--
                    ``(A) a security interest; and
                    ``(B) a lease, without regard to the duration of 
                the lease;''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 2 of the Agricultural 
        Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501) is 
        amended by striking ``, other than a security interest,'' each 
        place it appears.
    (b) Civil Penalty.--Section 3 of the Agricultural Foreign 
Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3502) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``exceed 25 percent'' 
        and inserting ``be less than 15 percent, or exceed 30 
        percent,''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Liens.--On imposing a penalty under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall ensure that a lien is placed on the agricultural land 
with respect to which the violation occurred, which shall be released 
only on payment of the penalty.''.
    (c) Transparency.--
            (1) In general.--Section 7 of the Agricultural Foreign 
        Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3506) is amended to 
        read as follows:

``SEC. 7. PUBLIC DATA SETS.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-
328), the Secretary shall publish in the internet database established 
under section 773 of division A of that Act human-readable and machine-
readable data sets that--
            ``(1) contain all data that the Secretary possesses 
        relating to reporting under this Act from each report submitted 
        to the Secretary under section 2; and
            ``(2) as soon as practicable, but not later than 30 days, 
        after the date of receipt of any report under section 2, shall 
        be updated with the data from that report.
    ``(b) Included Data.--The data sets established under subsection 
(a) shall include--
            ``(1) a description of--
                    ``(A) the purchase price paid for, or any other 
                consideration given for, each interest in agricultural 
                land for which a report is submitted under section 2; 
                and
                    ``(B) updated estimated values of each interest in 
                agricultural land described in subparagraph (A), as 
                that information is made available to the Secretary, 
                based on the most recently assessed value of the 
                agricultural land or another comparable method 
                determined by the Secretary; and
            ``(2) with respect to any agricultural land for which a 
        report is submitted under section 2, updated descriptions of 
        each foreign person who holds an interest in at least 1 percent 
        of the agricultural land, as that information is made available 
        to the Secretary, categorized as a majority owner or a minority 
        owner that holds an interest in the agricultural land.''.
            (2) Deadline for database establishment.--Section 773 of 
        division A of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public 
        Law 117-328), is amended, in the first proviso, by striking ``3 
        years'' and inserting ``2 years''.
    (d) Definition of Foreign Person.--Section 9(3) of the Agricultural 
Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3508(3)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(IV), by striking ``and'' at the 
        end;
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``and'' after the 
        semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) any person, other than an individual or a 
                government, that issues equity securities that are 
                primarily traded on a foreign securities exchange 
                within--
                            ``(i) Iran;
                            ``(ii) North Korea;
                            ``(iii) the People's Republic of China; or
                            ``(iv) the Russian Federation;''.

SEC. 6. REPORTS.

    (a) Report From the Secretary on Foreign Ownership of Agricultural 
Land in the United States.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, and once every 2 years thereafter, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing--
                    (A) the risks and benefits, as determined by the 
                Secretary, that are associated with foreign ownership 
                or lease of agricultural land in rural areas (as 
                defined in section 520 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 
                U.S.C. 1490));
                    (B) the intended and unintended misrepresentation 
                of foreign land ownership in the annual reports 
                prepared by the Secretary describing foreign holdings 
                of agricultural land due to inaccurate reporting of 
                foreign holdings of agricultural land;
                    (C) the specific work that the Secretary has 
                undertaken to monitor erroneous reporting required by 
                the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 
                1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) that would result in a 
                violation or civil penalty; and
                    (D) the role of State and local government 
                authorities in tracking foreign ownership of 
                agricultural land in the United States.
            (2) Protection of information.--In carrying out paragraph 
        (1), the Secretary shall establish a plan to ensure the 
        protection of personally identifiable information.
    (b) Report From the Director of National Intelligence on Foreign 
Ownership of Agricultural Land in the United States.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, and once every 2 years thereafter, the 
        Director of National Intelligence shall submit to the 
        congressional recipients described in paragraph (2) a report 
        describing--
                    (A) an analysis of foreign malign influence (as 
                defined in section 119C(e) of the National Security Act 
                of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3059(e))) by covered persons that 
                have foreign ownership in the United States agriculture 
                industry; and
                    (B) the primary motives, as determined by the 
                Director of National Intelligence, of foreign investors 
                to acquire agricultural land.
            (2) Congressional recipients described.--The report under 
        paragraph (1) shall be submitted to--
                    (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
                Forestry of the Senate;
                    (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
                Senate;
                    (D) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate;
                    (E) the Committee on Financial Services of the 
                House of Representatives;
                    (F) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
                Representatives;
                    (G) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
                of the House of Representatives;
                    (H) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives;
                    (I) the majority leader of the Senate;
                    (J) the minority leader of the Senate;
                    (K) the Speaker of the House of Representatives; 
                and
                    (L) the minority leader of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (3) Classification.--The report under paragraph (1) shall 
        be submitted in an unclassified form, but may include a 
        classified annex.
    (c) Government Accountability Office Report.--Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall submit to Congress a report describing--
            (1) a review of resources, staffing, and expertise for 
        carrying out the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act 
        of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), and enforcement issues 
        limiting the effectiveness of that Act; and
            (2) any recommended necessary changes to that Act.
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