[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 840 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 840

 To prohibit the purchase of public or private real estate located in 
     the United States by foreign persons, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2023

   Mrs. Miller of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the purchase of public or private real estate located in 
     the United States by foreign persons, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Saving American Farms from 
Adversaries Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Foreign investment in United States farmland has 
        tripled during the past 10 years.
            (2) Foreign companies and individuals have purchased 
        853,813 acres of agricultural land in Illinois. The purchases 
        are worth approximately $6.3 billion.
            (3) Roughly 47 percent of rural renters pay a third or more 
        of their income in rent each month. The Federal Government has 
        done nothing to help rural Americans deal with the rising costs 
        in housing.
            (4) Chinese nationals have led foreign investments in homes 
        in the United States for the past seven years. The Chinese 
        Communist Party is attempting to buy land in the United States, 
        with an emphasis on farmland to gain strategic leverage over 
        the United States.
            (5) Foreign investors now account for almost one-third of 
        institutional investment in single-family rental homes in the 
        United States. This increases the price and makes it more 
        difficult for Americans to purchase a home.
            (6) Increased foreign investment in Washington, DC, and 
        other urban areas has led to a rise in gentrification, pushing 
        many long-time residents out of their homes, including some of 
        our most vulnerable and poor communities.
            (7) Foreigners have been abusing the EB-5 visa system, 
        which allows foreign nationals to obtain green cards if they 
        invest in specific business ventures. The rules to acquire an 
        EB-5 visa should be made more stringent.
            (8) Current United States laws are designed in a way that 
        makes it more profitable for foreign investors to invest in 
        property in the United States than their country of origin.
            (9) The Foreign Investment Risk Act of 2018 strengthened 
        the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States 
        (CFIUS) by among other measures giving it more jurisdiction 
        over real estate transactions. Specifically, CFIUS now has 
        jurisdiction to review purchases and leases of real estate by 
        foreign nationals regardless of whether the transactions 
        involve United States businesses. More action is still needed 
        to make the rules of CFIUS more strict.
            (10) With each additional land purchase made by a foreign 
        national or foreign entity, American sovereignty is further 
        eroded.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PURCHASE OF PUBLIC OR PRIVATE REAL ESTATE 
              LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES BY FOREIGN PERSONS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for 
the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the President shall take such actions as may be necessary to prohibit 
the purchase of public or private real estate located in the United 
States by any foreign person.
    (b) GAO Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
        United States shall submit to Congress a report that--
                    (A) details the history of purchases of public and 
                private real estate located in the United States by 
                foreign persons;
                    (B) provides more information on the percentage of 
                real estate located in the United States that is owned 
                by foreign persons; and
                    (C) offers recommendations to make it easier for 
                United States citizens and harder for foreign persons 
                to purchase real estate located in the United States, 
                including farmland.
            (2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified 
        annex if necessary.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person''--
                    (A) means--
                            (i) any foreign national, foreign 
                        government, or foreign entity; or
                            (ii) any entity over which control is 
                        exercised or exercisable by a foreign national, 
                        foreign government, or foreign entity; and
                    (B) includes a corporation, partnership, or other 
                association--
                            (i) created under the laws of a foreign 
                        country; and
                            (ii) substantially beneficially owned by 
                        nationals of that foreign country or any other 
                        foreign country.
            (2) United states.--The term ``United States'' means the 
        several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and any 
        other territory or possession of the United States.
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