U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz | Facebook/MikeWalsh
A U.S. representative from Florida who was among members of Congress writing to the comptroller general asking for a study of “foreign investments in U.S. farmland” has pledged that House Republicans will take a tougher stand on the Chinese Communist Party.
U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Florida), who was elected in 2018 to represent the Florida’s sixth district, is a combat-decorated Green Beret. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, according to his website.
Waltz, a Virginia Military Institute graduate and colonel in the National Guard, said it’s concerning that China is investing in the U.S. food supply chain, according to American Ag Network.
“The Chinese Communist Party is clearly using these land purchases for economic leverage and other nefarious purposes,” Waltz told Homeland Newswire. “In the next Congress, House Republicans will continue working on legislation to review and prevent CCP land purchases that blatantly jeopardize our national security. This is a whole-of-government issue that federal, state, and local policy makers must work together to combat.”
Waltz is one of several GOP members of Congress who signed a letter sent Oct. 1 to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro of the U.S. Government Accountability Office asking that the office study “foreign investment in U.S. farmland and its impact on national security, trade, and food security as well as U.S. government efforts to monitor these acquisitions.”
U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), Republican Leader of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Glenn “GT” Thompson Jr (R-Pa.), Republican Leader of the House Committee on Agriculture, sponsored the letter.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission stated in a May 26 report that there’s concern about a small plot of land in Grand Forks, N.D., selected in November 2021 by the Fufeng Group of Shandong, China, as the location for its new wet corn mill. The location is close to Grand Forks Air Force Base.
“The mill will be located about 12 miles from the Grand Forks Air Force Base, which houses some of the United States’ top intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities,” the report said. “The location of the land close to the base is particularly convenient for monitoring air traffic flows in and out of the base, among other security-related concerns…. Under the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA), the land’s proximity to a military installation may qualify the transaction for a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).”
The Grand Forks Herald reported on a memo by Air Force Maj. Jeremy Fox where he expresses concern "if proximal access were given to our adversaries, and their collections were directed at us, it would present a costly national security risk causing grave damage to (the) United States’ strategic advantages.”
Fufeng Group is a Chinese agribusiness with a history of odor and air pollution violations in China, Agweek said.
Preventing the Chinese Communist Party “from acquiring U.S. farmland under current law” isn’t a partisan issue, an Oct. 13 America First Policy Institute Fact Sheet states. The Fact Sheet cited U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that Chinese investors held 13,720 acres of U.S. agricultural land in 2010 and 352,140 acres in 2020.
North Dakota was among 14 states that have enacted laws “banning the CCP from owning agricultural land” (the others are Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) the Fact Sheet said. Another three have introduced legislation.
The report also shows how “securing and dominating world food supply chains is an integral part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which also sees them hoarding computer chips, minerals, and other sensitive commodities."
