[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 903 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 903
To amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require the Committee on
Foreign Investment in the United States to review and prohibit certain
transactions relating to agriculture.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 6, 2025
Mr. Rounds (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Thune, and
Mr. Hoeven) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require the Committee on
Foreign Investment in the United States to review and prohibit certain
transactions relating to agriculture.
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 ``Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and
Security Act'' or the ``PASS Act''.
SEC. 2. REVIEW AND PROHIBITIONS BY COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN
THE UNITED STATES OF CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS RELATING TO
AGRICULTURE.
(a) In General.--Section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950
(50 U.S.C. 4565) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
``(14) Agriculture.--The term `agriculture' has the meaning
given that term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 (29 U.S.C. 203).'';
(2) in subsection (b)(1), by adding at the end the
following:
``(I) Consideration of certain agricultural land
transactions.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 30 days
after receiving notification from the Secretary
of Agriculture of a reportable agricultural
land transaction, the Committee shall
determine--
``(I) whether the transaction is a
covered transaction; and
``(II) if the Committee determines
that the transaction is a covered
transaction, whether to--
``(aa) request the
submission of a notice under
clause (i) of subparagraph (C)
or a declaration under clause
(v) of such subparagraph
pursuant to the process
established under subparagraph
(H); or
``(bb) initiate a review
pursuant to subparagraph (D).
``(ii) Reportable agricultural land
transaction defined.--In this subparagraph, the
term `reportable agricultural land transaction'
means a transaction--
``(I) that the Secretary of
Agriculture has reason to believe is a
covered transaction;
``(II) that involves the
acquisition of an interest in
agricultural land by a foreign person,
other than an excepted investor or an
excepted real estate investor, as such
terms are defined in regulations
prescribed by the Committee; and
``(III) with respect to which a
person is required to submit a report
to the Secretary of Agriculture under
section 2(a) of the Agricultural
Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of
1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501(a)).'';
(3) in subsection (k)(2)--
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (H), (I), and
(J) as subparagraphs (I), (J), and (K), respectively;
and
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (G) the
following:
``(H) The Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to
any covered transaction related to the purchase of
agricultural land or agricultural biotechnology or
otherwise related to the agriculture industry in the
United States.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(r) Prohibitions Relating to Purchases of Agricultural Land and
Agricultural Businesses.--
``(1) In general.--If the Committee, in conducting a review
under this section, determines that a transaction described in
clause (i), (ii), or (iv) of subsection (a)(4)(B) would result
in the purchase or lease by a covered foreign person of real
estate described in paragraph (2) or would result in control by
a covered foreign person of a United States business engaged in
agriculture, the President shall prohibit the transaction
unless a party to the transaction voluntarily chooses to
abandon the transaction.
``(2) Real estate described.--Subject to regulations
prescribed by the Committee, real estate described in this
paragraph is agricultural land (as defined in section 9 of the
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7
U.S.C. 3508)) in the United States that is in close proximity
(subject to subsection (a)(4)(C)(ii)) to a United States
military installation or another facility or property of the
United States Government that is--
``(A) sensitive for reasons relating to national
security for purposes of subsection
(a)(4)(B)(ii)(II)(bb); and
``(B) identified in regulations prescribed by the
Committee.
``(3) Waiver.--The President may waive, on a case-by-case
basis, the requirement to prohibit a transaction under
paragraph (1) after the President determines and reports to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate
and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives that the waiver is in the national interest of
the United States.
``(4) Covered foreign person defined.--
``(A) In general.--In this subsection, subject to
regulations prescribed by the Committee, the term
`covered foreign person'--
``(i) means any foreign person (including a
foreign entity) that acts as an agent,
representative, or employee of, or acts at the
direction or control of, the government of a
covered country; and
``(ii) does not include a United States
citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for
permanent residence to the United States.
``(B) Covered country defined.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A), the term `covered country' means any
of the following countries, if the country is
determined to be a foreign adversary pursuant to
section 791.4 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations
(or a successor regulation):
``(i) The People's Republic of China.
``(ii) The Russian Federation.
``(iii) The Islamic Republic of Iran.
``(iv) The Democratic People's Republic of
Korea.''.
(b) Spending Plans.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, each department or agency represented on the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States shall submit to
the chairperson of the Committee a copy of the most recent spending
plan required under section 1721(b) of the Foreign Investment Risk
Review Modernization Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4565 note).
(c) Regulations.--
(1) In general.--The President shall direct, subject to
section 553 of title 5, United States Code, the issuance of
regulations to carry out the amendments made by this section.
(2) Effective date.--The regulations prescribed under
paragraph (1) shall take effect not later than one year after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Effective Date; Applicability.--The amendments made by this
section shall--
(1) take effect on the date that is 30 days after the
effective date of the regulations under subsection (c)(2); and
(2) apply with respect to a covered transaction (as defined
in section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C.
4565)) that is proposed, pending, or completed on or after the
date described in paragraph (1).
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