By Shelby Shank
Field Editor

The Biden administration proposed to expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to include foreign purchases of real estate within 100 miles of U.S. military bases.

The proposed rule includes three military bases in Texas: Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio.

Other states with military bases that would be impacted by the rule include California, South Dakota, Iowa and Arizona.

The issue of foreign land purchases gained national attention after a spy balloon was spotted in the U.S. and a Chinese company, Fufeng, planned to build a milling plant 12 miles from an Air Force Base in North Dakota.

Under the proposed rule, the U.S. government would need to approve any attempt by foreign firms or individuals to purchase property within the vicinity of military bases.

The proposed rule would grant greater authority to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which is responsible for reviewing commercial deals between American companies and foreign investors for any impact on national security.

The Treasury Department proposed the rule and has received support from several lawmakers.

“The CFIUS process needs to be updated, and this is an important step to help ensure that we can protect our security interests. China is growing more aggressive and continues to probe our defenses, as demonstrated by its recent violations of U.S. airspace,” U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) said. “Accordingly, China’s investments in the U.S. need to be carefully scrutinized, particularly for facilities like the Grand Forks Air Force Base, which is a key national security asset that serves as the lead for all Air Force Global Hawk intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and has a growing role in U.S. space operations.”

About 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land are owned by foreign investors, according to USDA.

The Lone Star State has the largest amount of foreign-owned acreage at 4.7 million acres, mostly owned by Canadian investors.

Canadian investors own the largest amount of acreage in the U.S., followed by the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany.