Chambana Sun

Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Harrisburg) is backing legislation that would ban foreign nationals from purchasing public or private land here in the United States.

Miller recently introduced the National Security Moratorium on Foreign Purchases of U.S. Land Act along with fellow GOP lawmaker Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)

"We have an inherent responsibility to put our own citizens first, and the National Security Moratorium on Foreign Purchases of U.S. Land does just that," Miller said in a press release. "In recent years, we have seen foreign investors flood the market, increasing home prices for Americans. This is especially an issue in rural America where the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to buy land in our country, with an emphasis on farmland, to gain strategic leverage over the United States."

On the day the legislation was introduced, Miller said the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to promote cars made with Chinese batteries and minerals mined in China instead of backing American farmers by promoting ethanol and biofuels.

“The American people would be much better served if the Agriculture Committee focused on prohibiting Chinese land purchases in our country,” she said.

According to the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act Database (AFIDA), foreign companies and individuals have gobbled up 519,248 acres of agricultural land across Illinois over the past decade at a price of just over $4 billion.

Under an amendment added to the congressional appropriations bill, it would be illegal for the Chinese government or any of its entities to own farmland in the U.S., and land currently owned by Chinese companies would be shut out from receiving farm-program payments.

The Farm Service Agency issues period reports on foreign ownership of land, with one of the latest showing Chinese businesses or investors own 191,652 acres of farmland, a little more than 20 percent of which the acres are cropland. Much of the land came under Chinese ownership when Smithfield Foods was purchased by WH Group nearly a decade ago.

Canada is the largest country with foreign ownership of U.S. farmland at 7.48 million acres, including 2.27 million acres of cropland and 4.7 million acres of forest. Netherlands companies or investors own 4.4 million acres, of which 3.9 million are forests. Italian companies or investors own 2.46 million acres, including 1.58 million acres of cropland.

Miller also recently introduced the Safeguarding Children’s Privacy in Schools Act of 2021, which seeks to prohibit a school or school district from acting as an agent of a parent for the purpose of providing verifiable parental consent on behalf of a child.

"We should all be concerned about Big Tech getting ahold of our private information - particularly when it involves our children," Miller said in the release. "My bill reinstates direct parental consent for the collection of data on educational technology devices and platforms. This is a much needed reform since school boards are actively blocking parental involvement in our schools and the federal government is accusing them of being domestic terrorists."

As it is, The Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) does not require tech giants such as Google and Amazon to receive parental consent in order to collect, use, and sell the private data of students.