Ricketts, Fetterman warns China’s farmland transactions pose a national security threat

Exclusive: Republican Senator Pete Ricketts leads the charges of Democratic senators. John Fettman Adjustments should be made to foreign countries that purchase American farmland.

Two parties Disclosure of foreign investment in agriculture (AFIDA) Improvement Act aims to implement recommendations publishing The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in January 2024 that Afida’s capacity is insufficient to combat ownership of foreign agricultural land.

Ricketts told Fox News Digital Numbers in an exclusive interview: “Communist China is our biggest geopolitical threat, adding: “This is a way for us to improve disclosures about buying this agricultural land, so we can take other actions if necessary to ensure we do not give China the opportunity to buy agricultural land.” ”

The bill is proposed for two Chinese nationals – one University of Michigan Postdoctoral research fellow Yunqing Jian and Chengxuan Han, a student at Huizong University of Science and Technology, were detained in federal detention. Accused of smuggling biological materials Enter the United States.

Ricketts, Fetterman jointly cracks down on China’s attempt to buy American farmland

Criminal suspect accused of “smuggling a fungus described as “potential fungus” Agricultural terrorism weapons” Entering the heart of the United States, they obviously intend to use the University of Michigan lab to further further plans.

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According to the Justice Department, the fungus causes “head blight” and is described as a disease of wheat, corn, rice and barley that causes billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. If ingested by humans, the substance can cause vomiting, liver damage and “reproductive defects in humans and livestock.”

Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is committed to “keep our homes safe” through enhanced border screening.

“Protecting the U.S. food supply and national security remains a top priority. Last week, the smuggling attempt at the Chinese National Martial Hall was a dangerous fungus that posed a major bioterrorist threat, highlighting only the need for this threat.”

Ricketts told Fox News that “this could cause great damage to agriculture.” “We also know that Chinese nationals have been trying to steal our biotechnology side of agriculture. They have also been breaking down the gates of the base. The so-called Chinese tourists have been flying drones on the base. Of course, when the Biden administration did this, the Chinese flew a surveillance balloon in our country.”

Ricketts said China has been actively buying American agriculture, “that’s why we need to be highly vigilant when protecting our homes.”

Foreign investors own more than 40 million acres of agricultural land in the United States, and between 2010 and 2021, China’s ownership of agricultural land in the United States increased from 13,720 acres to 383,935 acres, According to the USDA (USDA)).

“It’s not just the number of acres they own, but it’s also owning it around the Great Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota or Fort Liberty in North Carolina,” Ricketts said.

The bill is also co-sponsored by Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, John Cornyn of Texas, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, asking Afida to report foreigners who hold more than 1% of their interests on American agricultural land.

The AFIDA Improvement Act aims to increase information sharing between the U.S. Foreign Investment Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It also requires updates to the AFIDA manual and deadlines for the establishment of an online AFIDA system for USDA.

According to the GAO’s recommendation, the bill aims to update the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to better enable USDA to combat ownership of US agricultural land by foreign opponents.

“We are now at the most dangerous moment in history since World War II,” Ricketts said. “We have to invest in our military. We have to support friends all over the world who are delaying these dictators. Communist China is one of them.”

Furthermore, the bill is re-raised concerns about national security as conflicts in the Middle East reach a boiling point between Iran and Israel. Israel successfully coordinated attacks on Iran from within the country, Ricketts noted Ukraine’s success against Russian air bases.

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“Ukraine’s operations destroyed some strategic bombers, and Ukraine was able to make an impact on Russia, they placed drones in trucks close to air bases and allowed those drones to attack their squadrons. If China did this here, we might be vulnerable to the same thing. If they did it here.

Ricketts added that American farmland should not be “our opponents, such as communist China, can be used to attack us from within our own country.”

Since the recent introduction of the bill, there has been little action on the bill. This is mainly because Senate Republicans are narrowly focused on advancing Trump’s “big and beautiful bill” by the July 4 deadline.

Julia Bonavita and Alex Miller of Fox News Digital contributed to the report.