I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8522 
To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to 
increase oversight and enforcement with respect to foreign investment 
in agricultural lands within the United States, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 2, 2020 
Mr. POCAN (for himself and Mr. SAN NICOLAS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure 
Act of 1978 to increase oversight and enforcement with 
respect to foreign investment in agricultural lands within 
the United States, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agricultural Foreign 
Investment Disclosure Reform Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY. 
Section 2(b) of the Agricultural Foreign Investment 
Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501(b)) is amended, 
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in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘agri-
cultural land’’ and all that follows through ‘‘effective 
date.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘agricultural land on 
the day before the date of the enactment of the Agricul-
tural Foreign Investment Disclosure Reform Act shall, be-
ginning 180 days after such date of enactment, and annu-
ally thereafter, submit to the Secretary a report.’’. 
SEC. 3. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act 
of 1978 is amended by inserting after section 4 (7 U.S.C. 
3503) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 5. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
‘‘(a) Beginning 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure 
Reform Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall, 
using information obtained under section 2, submit to the 
Congress a report on foreign investment in agricultural 
land in the United States. 
‘‘(b) Beginning 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure 
Reform Act, the Secretary shall, using information ob-
tained under section 2, publish on the internet website of 
the Department of Agriculture, and update every 90 days 
thereafter, a database listing the agricultural lands owned 
by foreign persons. Such listing shall be limited to the in-
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formation described in paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), and 
(7) of section 2(b). 
‘‘(c)(1) Not later than 90 days after the end of each 
covered period, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) analyze information obtained by the 
Secretary under section 2 and determine the ef-
fects of foreign persons acquiring, transferring, 
and holding agricultural land, particularly the 
effects of such acquisitions, transfers, and hold-
ings on family farms and rural communities; 
and 
‘‘(B) transmit to the President and each 
House of the Congress a report on the Sec-
retary’s findings and conclusions regarding— 
‘‘(i) each analysis and determination 
made under paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(ii) the effectiveness and efficiency of 
the reporting requirements contained in 
section 2 in providing the information re-
quired to be reported by such section. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘covered period’ 
means each of the following periods: 
‘‘(A) The 10-year period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of Agricultural Foreign Investment 
Disclosure Reform Act. 
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‘‘(B) Each 10-year period thereafter.’’. 
SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO REPORT OR MIS-
REPORTING. 
Section 3(b) of the Agricultural Foreign Investment 
Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3502(b)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘, except that such amount shall not exceed 
25 percent of the fair market value, on the date of the 
assessment of such penalty, of the interest in agricultural 
land with respect to which such violation occurred’’. 
SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF FOREIGN PERSON DEFINITION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(3)(C)(ii) of the Agricul-
tural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 
U.S.C. 3508(3)(C)(ii)) is amended, in the matter pre-
ceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘a significant interest or 
substantial control’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than 25-per-
cent interest or not less than 25-percent control’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply beginning with the first report 
submitted under section 2 of the Agricultural Foreign In-
vestment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501) after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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