Johnston Reporter

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and his colleague Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), proposed a bill in July that seeks to make the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The Agricultural Security Risk Review Act seeks to increase scrutiny of foreign investment in agricultural businesses to assist the Committee on Foreign Investment, an interagency group of nine people headed by the U.S. Treasury Secretary.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States “... plays a crucial role in determining whether our national security is threatened by foreign investment, and protecting our nation’s food supply is critical to our national security,” Tillis said in a July 21 news release posted on his website. “Including the Secretary of Agriculture as a member of CIFIUS is long overdue. This legislation would remove unnecessary hurdles to include the USDA in these decisions and strengthen the security of America’s agricultural system.”

Of concern, by some federal lawmakers, is that more U.S. farmland is foreign-owned, according to Tillis's news release. The Foreign Investment Committee is responsible to examine food and agriculture deals to make sure the U.S. food supply is safe but has done so without having the input from the agriculture secretary.