Bill Summary
The Farmland Security Act of 2022 is a proposed amendment to the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978. It aims to increase transparency and accountability in reporting foreign investments in agricultural land in the United States. The Act requires the Secretary of Agriculture to submit annual reports to Congress on foreign investments in agricultural land, as well as establish a public database to make this information readily available to the public. The database will include data on the citizenship and nature of the legal entity of the foreign person, as well as their country of registration and principal place of business. This legislation seeks to monitor and analyze the impact of foreign ownership of agricultural land on family farms, rural communities, and the domestic food supply.
Possible Impacts
1. This legislation could affect foreign investors who are interested in purchasing agricultural land in the United States. They would be required to submit reports and provide information on their investment, which may deter them from investing in US farmland.
2. Family farmers and rural communities may be impacted by the increased transparency and public availability of information on foreign ownership of agricultural land. This information could potentially inform policy decisions and regulations that affect their livelihoods.
3. Domestic food supply could be affected by the gathering and sharing of information on foreign investments in agricultural land. This could potentially impact prices and availability of certain foods, as well as the overall stability of the food system.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9395 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9395
To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to
require additional reporting and public disclosure of information.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 1, 2022
Mr. Pocan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to
require additional reporting and public disclosure of information.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Farmland Security Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. REPORTS AND PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ON FOREIGN
INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURAL LAND.
(a) Reports.--Section 6 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment
Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3505) is amended--
(1) by striking the section designation and heading and all
that follows through ``Not later than'' and inserting the
following:
``SEC. 6. REPORTS.
``(a) To States.--Not later than''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) To Congress.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the Secretary
shall submit to Congress a report on foreign investments in
agricultural land in the United States, including a description of the
impact that foreign ownership of agricultural land has on family farms,
rural communities, and the domestic food supply.''.
(b) Public Availability of Information.--Section 7 of the
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3506)
is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 7. PUBLIC DATABASE.
``(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of the Farmland Security Act of 2022, the Secretary shall
establish, and make publicly available on the Department of Agriculture
website, a database that--
``(1) contains data from each report submitted to the
Secretary under section 2 in the preceding calendar year; and
``(2) not later than 10 days after the submission of any
report under section 2, shall be updated with the data in that
report.
``(b) Database Organization.--The database described in paragraph
(1) shall organize information into the following categories with
respect to a foreign person who has submitted a report under section 2:
``(1) If the foreign person is an individual, the
citizenship of the foreign person.
``(2) If the foreign person is not an individual or a
government--
``(A) the nature of the legal entity that is the
foreign person;
``(B) the country in which the foreign person is
registered or organized; and
``(C) the principal place of business of the
foreign person.''.
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