H.R. 8700 — Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites From Foreign Adversaries Act

This section adds four definitions to section 721(a) of the Defense Production Act of 1950. The term “elevated risk real estate transaction” covers real estate transactions involving air or maritime ports, land in close proximity to or exposing activities at a sensitive site, or agricultural land subject to the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978. The term “foreign adversary” means the People’s Republic of China (including Special Administrative Regions), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or Venezuela. The term “foreign adversary person” means a foreign adversary, a person subject to its jurisdiction, or a person owned, directed, or controlled by such an entity. The term “sensitive site” means any of 16 categories of locations, including military installations, special use airspace, intelligence facilities, federally funded research and development centers, critical telecommunications and electric infrastructure, and other sites designated by the Secretaries of Defense or Homeland Security.

This section adds a new factor for consideration by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) when reviewing the effects of covered transactions on national security. The factor addresses the current and long-term projections of aggregate, local, and regional requirements for sources of food, water, and other agricultural products in the United States, as well as the potential effects of such transactions on U.S. food security, including through foreign adversary acquisition of agricultural biotechnology.

This section expands the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to cover the purchase or lease by, or a concession to, a foreign adversary person of private or public real estate located in the United States. It distinguishes such transactions from those involving other foreign persons, replaces prior references to specific military installations and government facilities with the term “sensitive site,” and requires mandatory declarations for elevated risk real estate transactions.

This section establishes a presumption that elevated risk real estate transactions present an unresolvable risk to national security in reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). It amends section 721(b)(2)(B) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require a national security investigation of such a transaction unless CFIUS determines by clear and convincing evidence that the transaction poses no risk and notifies the House Committees on Agriculture, Financial Services, and Intelligence and the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Intelligence. It further amends section 721(b) to presume that risks from an elevated risk real estate transaction cannot be resolved except by suspending or prohibiting the transaction, and amends section 721(l)(3) to presume that such risks cannot be mitigated through any agreement or condition, unless CFIUS makes a contrary determination by clear and convincing evidence and provides the same congressional notifications in each case.

This section adds the Secretary of Agriculture as a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for all transactions involving the purchase of agricultural land, agricultural biotechnology, or any other transaction related to the agriculture industry in the United States, as determined by the Secretary. (As background, CFIUS reviews certain foreign investments for potential national security risks; the amendment requires redesignation of existing subparagraphs to accommodate the new representative.)

This section preserves State authority under the Defense Production Act of 1950 by providing that nothing in Section 721 may be construed to preempt or supersede a State law that restricts or prohibits the purchase, lease, or acquisition of real estate or agricultural land by a foreign adversary person, provided the law is of general applicability within the State and does not target any specific transaction or party. The provision defines “State” to include each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and each territory of the United States.

This section directs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to issue rules implementing the amendments made by this Act no later than 120 days after the date of enactment.