Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is introducing a bill on Friday aimed at blocking members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from buying land in the United States.
Although the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States does review some attempts by foreign entities to buy land in the country, the bill would completely stop CCP members from buying either public or private land in the U.S.
The bill, called the Securing America’s Land from Foreign Interference Act, is being introduced by Roy along with Reps. Lance Gooden (R-Texas), Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Randy Weber (R-Texas).
“In their quest for global domination, China has been buying up land and strategic infrastructure all over the world and in the United States,” Roy said.
“Direct Chinese investment in the US economy is a major threat to the American way of life and requires that we take serious action to thwart the Chinese Communist party (CCP) from ever seizing control of strategically valuable domestic assets in the US,” he added.
The U.S. has almost 30 million acres of farmland owned by foreign investors, Roy’s press release notes.
“In Texas, a Chinese based energy company purchased more than 130,000 acres of land near Laughlin Air Force Base and is now attempting to build a wind farm to access the U.S. power grid,” the press release reads.
China and the U.S. have been at odds this week over U.S. senators visiting Taiwan and the U.S. passing a bipartisan bill that improves the the United States’ competitiveness against China.