S. 903 — PASS Act

This section amends Section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565), which authorizes the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review and block foreign investments posing U.S. national security risks, as follows: (1) defines "agriculture" by cross-reference to section 3(f) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(f)); (2) requires CFIUS, within 30 days of notification from the Secretary of Agriculture, to determine whether a "reportable agricultural land transaction"—i.e., a covered transaction involving foreign acquisition of U.S. agricultural land that requires reporting under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501(a))—warrants a notice, declaration, or review; (3) adds the Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS membership for covered transactions involving purchases of agricultural land, agricultural biotechnology, or the U.S. agriculture industry; and (4) prohibits transactions that would result in control of a U.S. agriculture business or purchase/lease of agricultural land (as defined in 7 U.S.C. 3508) near military installations or other sensitive U.S. government facilities by a "covered foreign person"—i.e., a foreign person acting on behalf of the government of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea if designated a foreign adversary per regulations—with case-by-case presidential waivers reported to congressional committees. (Thus, such transactions by these actors near sensitive sites are presumptively blocked unless abandoned or waived.) The section further requires CFIUS member agencies to submit recent spending plans within 60 days of enactment; directs issuance of implementing regulations within one year; and makes amendments effective 30 days after regulations, applying to transactions proposed, pending, or completed thereafter.