[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1969 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1969
To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to
establish an additional reporting requirement, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 5, 2025
Mr. Ricketts (for himself, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Wicker,
Mr. Cornyn, and Mrs. Britt) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to
establish an additional reporting requirement, 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 ``AFIDA Improvements Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. REPORTING; ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Reporting Requirement.--Section 2 of the Agricultural Foreign
Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(g) Minimum Ownership.--In the case of agricultural land in which
more than 1 foreign person acquires or transfers any interest, other
than a security interest, the reporting requirements under this section
shall apply to each foreign person who holds at least a 1 percent
interest in that land--
``(1) directly through the first tier of ownership; or
``(2) in the aggregate through an interest in other
entities at various tiers.''.
(b) Enforcement.--Section 4 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment
Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3503) is amended--
(1) by striking the section designation and all that
follows through ``The Secretary'' and inserting the following:
``SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIVE ACTIONS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Actions by FPAC-BC.--As part of the actions taken under
subsection (a), the Farm Production and Conservation Business Center
shall--
``(1) take such actions as are necessary to validate the
data collected under section 2, including revising and
validating information throughout the data collection process;
``(2) take such actions as are necessary to ensure
compliance with section 2(g); and
``(3) in coordination with the Farm Service Agency, to the
maximum extent practicable, identify persons that have carried
out an activity subject to a civil penalty described in
paragraph (1) or (2) of section 3(a).''.
SEC. 3. AGRICULTURAL FOREIGN INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE IMPROVEMENTS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) AFIDA.--The term ``AFIDA'' means the Agricultural
Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.).
(2) FPAC-BC.--The term ``FPAC-BC'' means the Farm
Production and Conservation Business Center.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
(b) MOU With CFIUS.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter into 1 or more
memoranda of understanding with the Committee on Foreign Investment in
the United States under which the Secretary shall provide the Committee
with all relevant information relating to reports on foreign ownership
of United States agricultural land submitted to the Secretary under
section 2 of AFIDA (7 U.S.C. 3501), including information on--
(1) each report submitted to the Secretary; and
(2) with respect to each such report, the identity of the
person submitting the report and the date of submission.
(c) AFIDA Handbook Updates.--
(1) First update.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall update the most
recent version of the Farm Service Agency handbook entitled
``Foreign Investment Disclosure'' as determined necessary by
the Secretary for the effective implementation of AFIDA, which
update shall incorporate recommendations made by the report of
the Government Accountability Office entitled ``Foreign
Investments in U.S. Agricultural Land: Enhancing Efforts to
Collect, Track, and Share Key Information Could Better Identify
National Security Risks'' and dated January 18, 2024.
(2) Subsequent updates.--After updating the handbook
described in paragraph (1) under that paragraph, the Secretary
shall carry out an update of that handbook every 10 years
thereafter, including by incorporating any recommendations of
the Government Accountability Office.
(d) Analysis of Streamlined Process for Electronic Submission and
Retention of Reports Under AFIDA.--
(1) Definition of covered process.--In this subsection, the
term ``covered process'' means the streamlined process for
electronic submission and retention of disclosures made under
AFIDA required under section 773 of division A of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (7 U.S.C. 3501 note; 136
Stat. 4509).
(2) Analysis.--Unless the covered process is established by
not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act,
the FPAC-BC, in coordination with the Farm Service Agency,
shall, by that date--
(A) carry out an analysis of the specific steps
required to establish that process and the elements of
that process; and
(B) develop a timeline for specific implementation
benchmarks to be met.
(3) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a
report describing the analysis and implementation timeline
under paragraph (2), if applicable.
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