DeRemer vote: Protect Oregon timberland from Chinese Communist Party

From the office of Rep. Lori Chavez-Deremer,

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act (H.R. 9456), led by Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04). Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05), who has raised concerns regarding foreign-owned timberland in Oregon, voted for the proposal. It would strengthen the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ (CFIUS) capacity to inspect sales of U.S. agricultural land to entities associated with foreign adversaries, including China, by permanently adding the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) secretary to CFIUS.

“Foreign-owned farmland and timberland is a serious national security concern for many of my colleagues – on both sides of the aisle – who represent rural areas. Farmers, ranchers, and foresters across the country are understandably worried that our adversaries can easily snatch up one of our most precious and finite resources. As a member of the Agriculture Committee, I’ll keep working to improve tracking of foreign-owned land in the United States to protect our supply chains and national security,” Chavez-DeRemer said.

Full text of the bill is available HERE.

Earlier this year, Chavez-DeRemer raised concerns to the Biden-Harris administration after a report surfaced that an individual with previous ties to the Chinese Communist Party owns 198,000 acres of forestland near Bend. That accounts for nearly half of all Chinese-owned land in the United States, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.

In the Consolidated Appropriations Act that was signed into law earlier this year, Chavez-DeRemer helped secure provisions to improve the tracking of foreign-owned land. It would require CFIUS to be notified of land purchases made by China and other adversarial countries like Russia and Iran to help protect supply chains from foreign influence.

Chavez-DeRemer is also an original cosponsor of the bipartisan Protecting America’s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act, which would prohibit the purchase or lease of U.S. agricultural land by individuals associated with the governments of China and other foreign adversaries.