{"id":2208959,"date":"2024-03-29T08:23:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T12:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/louisiana-house-committee-approves-bill-to-prohibit-land-sales-to-foreign-foes\/"},"modified":"2024-03-29T08:26:52","modified_gmt":"2024-03-29T12:26:52","slug":"louisiana-house-committee-approves-bill-to-prohibit-land-sales-to-foreign-foes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/louisiana-house-committee-approves-bill-to-prohibit-land-sales-to-foreign-foes\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana House committee passes bill banning land sales to foreign adversaries"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flouisiana-house-committee-approves-bill-to-prohibit-land-sales-to-foreign-foes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2208959&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A proposed bill in Louisiana aims to block agricultural land sales to\u2063 adversarial nations, with\u200b Rep. Michael\u200b Echols leading the initiative. \u2064The \u200dbill, now with\u2062 a \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tennessee-senate-passes-bill-defining-sex-as-gender-at-birth\/\" title=\"Tennessee Senate passes bill defining sex as gender at birth\">fiscal note<\/a> attached, is progressing to \u2064the Appropriations Committee. Violators could face \u200bhefty penalties. Rep. \u200bJohn\u2062 Wyble emphasized the\u200d bill&#8217;s importance \u200cin \u2064safeguarding the agricultural\u200c sector \u2063for\u2063 economic\u200b and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hillbilly-elegy-author-jd-vance-confirms-hes-seriously-considering-senate-run-in-ohio\/\" title=\"\u2018Hillbilly Elegy\u2019 Author JD Vance Confirms He\u2019s Seriously Considering Senate Run In Ohio\">national security reasons<\/a>, stressing the industry&#8217;s vital role locally\u2063 and nationally.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square)\u00a0\u2013 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.<\/p>\n<p>The bill was approved by the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n<p>Next stop will be the Appropriations Committee. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/legis.la.gov\/legis\/BillInfo.aspx?&#038;i=245851\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>proposal from Rep.\u00a0Michael Echols<\/strong><\/a>, R-Monroe, now has a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/legis.la.gov\/legis\/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1355421\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>fiscal note attached<\/strong><\/a>. If favored in Appropriations, it could get a vote on the floor of the chamber.<\/p>\n<p>Echols\u2019 bill would ban the sale of agricultural land to residents or agents from five countries and give the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-sues-amazon-over-alleged-worker-exploitation-amid-pandemic\/\" title=\"New York Sues Amazon Over Alleged Worker \u2018Exploitation\u2019 Amid Pandemic\">state attorney general\u2019<\/a>s office the ability to take landowners to court if they are tied to an adversary or file an injunction if an agent of one of those nations tries to purchase farmland in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Anyone guilty of violating the proposed law could pay a civil penalty of $50,000 and forfeiture of the land if such entity does not divest the acquired land within a year of a lawsuit being brought.<\/p>\n<p>The fiscal note by the Legislative Financial Office estimates annual costs for taxpayers could range between $546,000 and $620,000.<\/p>\n<p>Cosponsor Rep.\u00a0John Wyble, R-Franklinton, presented the bill to the committee. He said that the agricultural industry is not only important to the state, but the country as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is really about the economic impact and security around our food production and our ability to continue to do so,\u201d Wyble said. \u201cEvery effort and every measure we take should be to protect what is, in terms of economic volume, the largest industry in our state. That touches all of us, no matter where we live.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-gun-bill-would-force-ags-office-to-team-up-with-gun-control-ally\/\" title=\"Democrats\u2019 Gun Bill Would Force AG\u2019s Office To Team Up With Gun-Control Ally\">similar bill passed<\/a> both chambers last session, but was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gov.louisiana.gov\/assets\/2023Vetoes\/HB125.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>vetoed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by then-Gov. John Bel Edwards and a veto override effort fell one short vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain said about 43.4 million acres of farmland in the U.S. is foreign-owned, representing about 21.1% of acreage. He said in Louisiana that number was about 8.3% and that it was primarily Canadians who owned that land, mostly for timber.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe concern we have and we\u2019ve discussed that and there\u2019s been the federal government trying to figure that out is when foreign \u2018bad actors,\u2019 when they\u2019re buying the land,\u201d Strain said. \u201cWhen they buy land strategically or they buy land near our industrial bases or buy land next to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hispanic-caucus-takes-aim-at-african-american-veterans-service-on-key-panel\/\" title=\"Hispanic Caucus Takes Aim at African-American Veteran\u2019s Service on Key Panel\">military bases<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two critical military bases are located in Louisiana. Barksdale Air Force Base is home to one of the Air Force\u2019s two B-52 bomber wings, while Fort Johnston (formerly known as Fort Polk) is home to the Army\u2019s\u00a0Joint Readiness Training Center.<\/p>\n<p>Strain said Swedish company Syngenta owns a few hundred acres. It has become problematic since an acquisition by a Chinese company.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not at all unusual that foreign countries would want to own land in the United States because it is the breadbasket of the world,\u201d Holton said. \u201cBut it\u2019s different when a foreign adversary wants to own land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s Liberation Army.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said that purchase resulted in the Texas Legislature passing a bill to prevent those acquisitions by foreign adversaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Louisiana legislative committee has moved forward a proposal to ban the sale of agricultural land to countries like North Korea, Iran, China, Russia, and Venezuela. The bill, endorsed by the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development in the House of Representatives, is set for further consideration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2208960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24074192832864-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2208959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24074192832864-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2208959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2208960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2208959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2208959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2208959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}