U.S. SENATE – Senator Steve Daines helped introduce the “Protect Our Bases Act” to ensure the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) can review foreign land purchases near sensitive military, intelligence, and national laboratory sites by requiring member agencies to annually update and review their lists of these sites.
“As President Biden’s weakness on the world stage has emboldened our adversaries, we must take action to protect the United States from potential national security threats,” said Senator Daines. “Purchasing land around sensitive intelligence sites and national labs gives foreign nations increased ability to spy on the U.S.—it must be stopped.”
BACKGROUND
In 2022, Fufeng Group, a Chinese company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, announced it would purchase land near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) determined that it could not evaluate the transaction for national security risks because the Department of Defense had not listed the base as a sensitive site for national security purposes. Although the City of Grand Forks ultimately blocked the transaction, the incident demonstrated a significant flaw in the review process of foreign land purchases. CFIUS relies on its member agencies to provide updated information on sensitive military, intelligence, and national laboratory sites in order to properly assess the security risk of foreign investment in our country. If government agencies do not appropriately update their site lists, CFIUS cannot ensure an accurate review.
The Protect Our Bases Act requires agencies represented on CFIUS to provide updated records of the military, intelligence, and national laboratory facilities that should be sensitive sites for national security purposes to CFIUS on an annual basis. Additionally, the legislation requires CFIUS to submit an annual report to Congress certifying the completion of such reviews and the accuracy of its real estate listings.
Read full text of the bill HERE.