October 25, 2023
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are dedicated to protecting the American people from
the malign influences of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Accordingly, we urge conferees on the
House-Senate Conference Committee to resolve bicameral differences in the Fiscal Year 2024 National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to address the risks posed by foreign land purchases—especially
considering the ongoing threats from the CCP and provide the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States (CFIUS) with adequate tools to deal with these threats.
We must strengthen existing laws to protect our country from foreign adversaries who want to buy land
near our most sensitive installations. This vulnerability has unfortunately been exploited in recent years as
our foreign adversaries try to acquire land near our most sensitive civilian and military facilities, including
military bases, intelligence sites, Department of Energy labs, vital nodes for telecommunications, and more.
The highest profile example was notably when People’s Republic of China (PRC) food manufacturer the
FuFeng Group was buying land near a U.S. military base in North Dakota—a facility CFIUS failed to
include in existing federal regulations as a designated military installation. CFIUS also lacks jurisdictional
control over some purchases of U.S. farmland, raising concerns that foreign adversaries could exploit this
gap and threaten national security.
While the House NDAA did not address this issue head-on, a bipartisan House bill led by the Chairman of
the Select Committee on the CCP addresses this concern, as the committee was established to address
loopholes such as this and other pressing threats from the CCP.
H.R. 4577, the Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act, is supported by
a bipartisan coalition of 30 members and is sponsored by Chairman Mike Gallagher (WI-08) and Rep. Mike
Thompson (CA-04). It focuses on purchases by foreign adversaries such as the CCP and its proxies. The
list of foreign adversaries this bill addresses includes China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and the
Maduro regime in Venezuela.
The Senate NDAA takes steps to tackle the threat, but the House version goes further. Specifically, H.R.
4577 would
- Strengthen the ability of CFIUS to block foreign land purchases of farmland AND land near
sensitive sites. In contrast, the Senate NDAA focuses only on farmland. - Expand the list of “sensitive sites” to include military installations and training routes; critical
infrastructure such as our Nation’s telecommunications nodes, power plants, maritime ports, and
airports; and declared intelligence community sites and science and technology labs. The Senate
NDAA is limited to an existing and narrow list that the Treasury Department would build
piecemeal, so it is not nearly as comprehensive in addressing our country’s present concerns. - Mandate that all high-risk land purchases (those made by foreign adversary entities) near sensitive
sites be automatically disclosed and impose much-needed qualifying criteria on CFIUS before
approving the transactions. This element is another crucial difference from the Senate NDAA.
We must equip the federal government with the means necessary to combat covert foreign threats to our
land resources and food supply chains and to deny them access to our most sensitive military and
infrastructure.
We strongly encourage the House-Senate NDAA conference to incorporate the vital provisions of H.R.
4577 into the text of the NDAA to fix this vulnerability and protect our national security.
Sincerely,
The Honorable Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Steve Yates, China Policy Initiative, America First Policy Institute
Ashley Hayek, Executive Director, America First Works
Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Senior Fellow, American Association of Evangelicals
Andrew Hughs, Executive Director and CEO, American Cornerstone Institute
Jon Schweppe, Policy Director, American Principles Project
Margaret Byfield, Executive Director, American Stewards of Liberty
Michael Stumo, CEO, Coalition for a Prosperous America
Bob Fu, Founder and President, China Aid Association
Hadley Heath Manning, President, Independent Women’s Voice
Greg Sindelar, Chief Executive Officer, Texas Public Policy Foundation
Jenny Beth Martin, Honorary Chairman, Tea Party Patriots Action
The Reverend Justin Murff, Executive Director, Anglican Office for Government and International
Affairs, Anglican Church in North America
Tim Jones, Charman, Missouri Center-Right Coalition
Faith McDonnell, Director of Advocacy, Katartismos Global
The Honorable Phil Bryant, Former Governor of Mississippi
The Honorable Rick Perry, Former Governor of Texas
The Honorable Bobby Jindal, Former Governor of Louisiana
The Honorable Ken Blackwell, Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission
The Honorable Cara Sands, Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark
The Honorable Tim Jones, Former Speaker, Missouri House of Representatives
CC: House-Senate Conference Committee to resolve NDAA differences