House GOP lawmaker rolls out bill to prevent CCP-linked entities from buying land near federal property

FIRST ON FOX: GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse is rolling out a measure that would prevent businesses and individuals associated with the Chinese Communist Party from purchasing property adjacent to federal land. 

Newhouse, R-Wash., who sits on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, is expected to introduce the legislation Tuesday evening. 

The “No American Land for Communist China Act” has 20 cosponsors, including the support of committee Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich. 

The legislation, obtained by Fox News Digital, states that it would “prohibit certain businesses and persons from purchasing real estate adjacent to covered Federal lands in the United States, and for other purposes.” 

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Flags are displayed for a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong, April 26, 2024, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Businesses and individuals that would be blocked would be related to those which the government of the People’s Republic of China “directly or indirectly through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship, or otherwise, owns 25 percent or more of equity interests of the business.” 

The legislation defines federal lands as owned by the United States and under the jurisdiction of the secretary of the interior, including Indian reservations; the secretary of defense; and the secretary of agriculture, with respect to land managed by the Forest Service. 

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“The Chinese Communist Party is at our doorstep, and we best not let them in,” Newhouse told Fox News Digital. 

Newhouse told Fox News Digital that he has been “closely watching the rise in cases of the CCP’s attempts at undermining our institutions.” 

“From spying on sensitive national security sites to buying up American farmland, it is clear we are vulnerable to their malicious efforts,” Newhouse said. 

Rep. Dan Newhouse leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Dec. 1, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

He added: “This bill strengthens our domestic defenses and protects critical federal lands against these foreign actors that aim to deepen their already dangerous influence on the world stage.”

The proposed legislation comes amid efforts to tighten security of U.S. lands, specifically those surrounding military installations across the country. 

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is composed of several federal national security agencies, is charged with reviewing certain acquisitions and real estate transactions made by foreign individuals and entities. 

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CFIUS expanded its jurisdiction to additional military cites last year after warnings of possible national security risks resulting from the purchase of that type of land by Chinese Communist Party-linked individuals. 

When CFIUS looks at property transactions involving non-U.S. persons, it is required by law to consider the risk of potential intelligence collection at military installations, which could expose national security activities and increase the risk of foreign surveillance.