As the leaders of the G7 countries gathered in Fasano, Italy, last week, Americans back home were greeted with sobering headlines about the future of our country’s place in the world. “G7 leaders talk tough on China. But can’t agree what to do,” Politico wrote. And then there was this especially startling take from the New York Times: “In China’s Backyard, America Has Become a Humbler Superpower.”
We’ve long known that China has a plan to displace America as the world’s sole superpower. However, world leaders, including President Joe Biden, don’t seem to know what to do about it. As China challenges America, the Biden administration appears more concerned about getting the details of diplomatic visits with the Chinese Communist Party just right rather than aggressively pursuing a plan to maintain our dominance in the world.
America doesn’t have to fade into the background as China rises — but we need action from Washington. If we are going to build a solid foundation for competing with China in the coming decades, we need to start at home by protecting America’s strategic assets, such as our farmland, military bases, and technology.
While the Biden administration has been slow to act, House Republicans have been stepping up. Here’s what we can do next.
America’s economy has long thrived on free market principles, but in an era of globalism, we need to ensure that pro-CCP forces can’t use our free enterprise system to undermine our national security. A key part of this is land ownership, which underpins America’s national security. It is the basis of food security. It provides opportunities for people to build wealth. And ultimately, it’s where the land of the free and home of the brave exists.
Last year, I signed on to Rep. Dan Newhouse’s (R-WA) Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act. This bill bans foreign nationals linked to the government in China from purchasing land in America. We need land not just to grow food but also to steward our natural resources for the next generation of Americans — and it’s critical that we do not allow CCP-connected firms to leverage these resources for their own aims.
In recent years, Chinese firms have attempted to purchase land near military bases in North Dakota and Wyoming. We can’t let that happen. Recently, I joined dozens of fellow members of Congress to introduce legislation that prohibits people linked to the CCP from purchasing property adjacent to federally owned lands. This measure is critical to protecting military bases, national parks, and other strategic natural resources from encroachment by foreign ownership interests.
My district in Nebraska is a great example of why these federal policy changes matter. We’re home to Offutt Air Force Base and STRATCOM, which helps manage our country’s nuclear triad. Our military bases in the United States and around the world must be protected at all costs. Think about it this way: Would China ever allow Americans to acquire or use land near one of its military bases? Absolutely not.
Americans shouldn’t have to wait for action any longer. We have opportunities to make these legislative proposals law — and Biden should make it clear he will sign them.
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The Farm Bill is one such opportunity. I am pleased that the initial draft of the House Agricultural Committee’s Farm Bill includes strong language on the matter of foreign farmland, and I hope that we can find bipartisan support to make it law in the final legislation.
Action from Washington is long overdue. Biden has waited far too long to engage Congress on how to compete with China. If this vacuum of leadership continues, America’s standing in the world is sure to diminish.
Mike Flood is a U.S. representative for Nebraska and serves on the Financial Services Committee.