[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H3962-H3963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ADDRESS THE THREAT IN OUR OWN BACKYARD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Collins) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, since I was a little boy I have been told 
that a dog that won't bark in his own backyard ain't much of a dog.
  Mr. Speaker, the number one enemy to the Communist Chinese Party is 
the United States of America. As a matter of fact, Xi Jinping has 
clearly stated that by 2049 he wants China to be the world leader 
diplomatically, economically, militarily, even in space. As a matter of 
fact, they are on pace right now to outperform and pass the United 
States as a leader in space before 2045.
  Where are we right now? Well, China owns $870 billion in U.S. 
Treasuries that finance our debt. They either own or have a huge 
portion of the Chicago Stock Exchange, AMC Theaters, General Electric's 
appliance division, General Motors, and Smithfield Foods, just to name 
a few.
  On another alarming note, they own 384,000 acres of American 
agricultural land. That is a 30 percent increase just since 2019. On 
top of that, they own land near an Air Force base in North Dakota. That 
is a clear threat to our national security.
  That is what the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration appropriations bill is going to address. It is going to 
put American interests first by directing the Secretary of Agriculture 
to prohibit the purchase of land by those associated with our foreign 
adversaries.

[[Page H3963]]

  Mr. Speaker, this dog is barking, and Congress needs to address the 
threat right here in our own backyard.

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