01.24.25

Hoeven, Colleagues Reintroduce FARM Act to Add Ag Secretary to CFIUS

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven joined Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) in reintroducing the bipartisan, bicameral Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act, to permanently add the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the governmental body that oversees the vetting process of foreign investment and acquisition of American companies. Currently, CFIUS does not directly consider the needs of the agriculture industry when reviewing foreign investment and ownership in domestic businesses.

“Our foreign adversaries are buying up American farmland and threatening American food security,” said Senator Hoeven. “We must have stronger supervision of foreign investments that affect the American food supply, and this bill will help achieve that by adding the Agriculture Secretary to CFIUS. This is a logical step to protect our essential food infrastructure and ensure North Dakota and our country remains a leader in agriculture.”

“Over the last decade, we’ve seen a surge of American farmland purchases from our foreign adversaries,” said Senator Tuberville. “These foreign investments are now reaching every piece of the very large puzzle that makes up our agriculture industry, from farming and processing to packaging and shipping. Food security is national security, and we cannot allow our adversaries to have a foot in the door to our critical supply chains. We must prioritize oversight of foreign investment in our food supply chains, especially from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. This starts with giving the agriculture community a permanent seat at the table on CFIUS. As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Ag Committee, I will keep fighting to secure our ag supply chains so that our agriculture community can continue to put food on the table for American families.” 

“Pennsylvania is home to about 50,000 farms and the farmers who power them already face enough challenges to stay competitive. They shouldn’t also have to compete with foreign adversaries buying up American farmland,” said Senator Fetterman. “America’s farms are critical infrastructure, and CFIUS exists to protect our critical infrastructure from foreign threats. So, adding the Secretary of Agriculture is just plain common sense. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: foreign adversaries have no business owning American farmland. This bill makes that clear and I’m proud to partner with my colleague to get it done.”

  Joining Hoeven, Tuberville and Fetterman in reintroducing this legislation are Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), Rick Scott (R-FL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Katie Britt (R-AL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Steve Daines (R-MT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Tim Sheehy (R-MT).

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