Karla Jones Testimony in Ohio: Protecting America’s Critical Infrastructure from Foreign Adversaries

On March 16, Vice President of the ALEC Center for International Freedom Karla Jones submitted written testimony to the Ohio House of Representatives Public Safety Committee on legislation intended to prevent America’s foreign adversaries from purchasing Ohio agricultural land as well as real estate adjacent to critical infrastructure.

The written testimony can be found below.

I am submitting this testimony on behalf of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), America’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of state lawmakers dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism to offer nonpartisan research and analysis. It references HB1 the Ohio Property Protection Act prohibiting certain governments, businesses, and individuals from acquiring certain real property as a way to protect Ohio land that is itself considered critical infrastructure and that is adjacent to critical infrastructure and US military installations. With HB1, Ohio would take an important step in defending against adversarial nations that could pose a threat to the critical infrastructure of the state, and by extension to the United States.

HB1’s objective of preventing the acquisition of real property by potential adversaries as determined by the Ohio Secretary of State, including but not limited to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is warranted and the concept is supported by the ALEC Act Prohibiting the Purchase or Acquisition of Real Property by Certain Foreign Entities. Using a structured process to identify adversarial nations is a sound way to determine countries of concern that should be prohibited from purchasing certain parcels of land. Engaging state officials who have expertise on the location of critical infrastructure and an understanding of Ohio’s homeland and national security landscape is an important element as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has an imperfect track record of recognizing land purchases that compromise homeland and national security. Additionally, local officials are often unaware that the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front is operating in their localities to acquire territory and invest in their communities making state government institutions an indispensable bulwark.

While the United States has more than one significant adversary, it is important to emphasize that the threat posed by the PRC is unique and more challenging than other countries of concern. China is widely recognized as America’s greatest and most complicated national and homeland security challenge and while there is a robust, although not infallible, federal national security infrastructure responsible for protecting the nation, the states, including Ohio, are recognizing the importance of developing such safeguards at the subnational level to reduce their vulnerability to PRC and other nations of concern’s homeland security threats, interference, and influence. States that do not act to bolster their defenses compromise US national security as well as their own.

The COVID 19 pandemic, Russia’s attack against Ukraine and the current military operation in Iran revealed the fragility of America’s international supply chains including for agricultural products. Because “Farm security is national security,” and the acquisition of US agricultural land by potential global strategic competitors poses a potential homeland and national security risk, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched the National Farm Security Action Plan to protect America’s agricultural land and property adjacent to critical infrastructure. This is a multiagency project that seeks to coordinate efforts at the federal and subnational level to secure US land. HB1 will serve to complement USDA’s efforts.

Agricultural land acquisition by the PRC is particularly problematic.

• While the PRC currently owns just a fraction of US farmland, its acquisition of American and other overseas agricultural land has accelerated rapidly over the last decade as addressing its own food insecurity challenges figure prominently in its long-term goals and at least one PRC national billionaire is the second largest foreign landowner in the US with 200,000 acres in rural Oregon.
• PRC purchases of agricultural land that is adjacent to military installations, critical infrastructure and other strategically sensitive sites are a clear national security vulnerability.
• The PRC has a history of weaponizing economic relationships, and in the wake of food shocks resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China “quickly moved to lock down half the world’s grain reserves driving up” global food prices. Agricultural goods are particularly vulnerable to attempts at economic coercion.
• There are no opportunities for reciprocity as PRC laws prohibit property ownership generally as well as foreign involvement in agriculture.

States have begun to recognize these exposures with roughly half passing laws restricting purchases of agricultural land by PRC nationals and companies domiciled in China and a handful including Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Oklahoma banning foreign farmland ownership entirely. If HB1 passes, Ohio will be one of many states addressing this challenge.

HB1 also recognizes that what appear to be unremarkable land purchases can serve as a mechanism for a foreign adversary to acquire land adjacent to critical infrastructure and military installations. Fufeng USA’s attempted acquisition of land near Grand Forks, ND is a notable case in point, and Fufeng USA considered a real property purchase in Ohio. Texas’ Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act was passed to prevent just such an event, and ALEC subsequently adopted the model State Infrastructure Protection Act.

ALEC has a long history of supporting subnational efforts to defend the states and the nation from foreign adversarial influence, infiltration and interference. At a meeting with Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, they highlighted China’s ability to purchase US land as a remaining serious security vulnerability. With HB1, Ohio is working to address it in a comprehensive and prudent manner.