Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Katie Britt (R-AL) have introduced a plan that would ban Chinese nationals and Chinese companies from buying and owning real estate in the United States.
The legislation, titled the Not One More Inch or Acre Act, would prohibit citizens of China as well as members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from buying U.S. real estate.
Likewise, the legislation would require Chinese citizens or Chinese companies to sell off American real estate that they currently own if it is considered a national security risk by a president’s administration.
“For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has been gobbling up American farmland and real estate,” Cotton said:
At best, this submits American land and resources to China’s best interests, not America’s — at worst, these purchases serve as outposts for Chinese espionage campaigns against American businesses and military bases. We can’t allow Chinese citizens, or anyone affiliated with the CCP, to own one more inch of American soil. And any American land exploited by current Chinese ownership should be sold. [Emphasis added]
In 2021, as Breitbart News reported, Chinese investors bought up $6.1 billion worth of U.S. housing real estate and land.
Matt Perdie / Breitbart News
The legislation also would set minimum penalties for foreign real estate investors who fail to comply with Department of Agriculture (USDA) reporting requirements. From 2015 to 2018, the USDA did not penalize any foreign investors who failed reporting requirements.
“The FBI has said that they open a new counterintelligence case against China about twice per day,” Britt said in a statement. “From stealing our intellectual property and spying on our children through TikTok, to buying up American farmland near military installations and engaging in unfair trade practices that undercut Alabama steelmakers and shrimpers, we must hold the CCP accountable.”
China, according to a 2021 USDA report, owns nearly 384,000 acres of American farmland — 195,000 acres of which were purchased by Chinese investors and the other 189,000 acres of which were purchased by U.S. corporations with Chinese shareholders.
From 2019 to 2020 alone, China bought up 105,000 acres of American farmland. Then, in 2021, China purchased another 32,000 acres of land across the United States.
Like China, American billionaires are buying up America’s farmland and real estate at historic levels — driving up real estate prices for working and middle class communities. Today, billionaire Bill Gates owns almost 250,000 acres of American farmland, making him the largest private owner of U.S. agricultural land in the nation.
Nearly identical legislation to Cotton and Britt’s was filed last month in the House by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and has numerous Republican co-sponsors:
Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Jason Smith (R-MO), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), David Rouzer (R-NC), David Valadao (R-CA), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Bob Latta (R-OH), Mike Flood (R-NE), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Maria Salazar (R-FL), Mark Amodei (R-NV), Mike Bost (R-IL), Mike Guest (R-MS), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Bob Latta (R-OH), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Julia Letlow (R-LA), Zach Nunn (R-IA), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), John Rutherford (R-FL), Blake Moore (R-UT), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Chris Stewart (R-UT), Barry Moore (R-AL), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Ronny Johnson (R-TX), Gregory Murphy (R-NC), Jim Baird (R-IN), Lisa McClain (R-MI), and Ralph Norman (R-SC).
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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