The Blacklist

We’re not sponsored by the TV show, but the title rings true with this news. The Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act, introduced by Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Elise Stefanick (R-NY), would blacklist China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea to block them from buying U.S. agriculture companies and farmlands.

• The justification is that China's efforts to influence American agriculture threaten national security, and the U.S. can't risk allowing adversaries to get more direct access to food and supply chains.

Here’s what the bill proposes:

• The inclusion of agriculture and biotechnology related to agriculture as critical infrastructure. 
• The addition of the Secretary of Agriculture as a standing member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in order to consider agriculture needs when making determinations that affect national security. 
• Mandatory reports from the Secretary of Agriculture on the risk of foreign purchases of agriculture companies to the American agriculture sector.

The agriculture appropriations bill, which funds the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration, provides discretionary funding of $27.072 billion, which includes, among other things, support for agriculture research, conservation technical assistance, and the Food for Peace Program.  

It is expected that Congress will not be able to pass the appropriations bills by the end of the fiscal year, September 30th, and will have to pass a continuing resolution to keep the federal government running.