Louisiana House committee approves bill to prohibit land sales to foreign foes

Editor’s Note: This piece by Steve Wilson features quotes from CSP Senior Analyst and Director for State Outreach, Christopher Holton.

A ban on the sale of agricultural land to foreign adversaries such as North Korea, Iran, China, Russia and Venezuela has been proposed and advanced from a Louisiana legislative committee on Thursday.

The bill was approved by the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development in the House of Representatives.

Next stop will be the Appropriations Committee. The proposal from Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, now has a fiscal note attached. If favored in Appropriations, it could get a vote on the floor of the chamber.

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Christopher Holton, a senior analyst with the Center for Security Policy, told the committee the bill like many passed in 21 other states such as Arkansas was intended to curtail purchases by foreign adversaries, not all foreign entities.

“It’s not at all unusual that foreign countries would want to own land in the United States because it is the breadbasket of the world,” Holton said. “But it’s different when a foreign adversary wants to own land.”

One example cited by Holton was the purchase of 140,000 acres of land in Texas adjacent to Lackland Air Force Base by an entity owned by a former Chinese Communist Party official and officer in the People’s Liberation Army.

He said that purchase resulted in the Texas Legislature passing a bill to prevent those acquisitions by foreign adversaries.

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