Editor:
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is set to debate (and possibly vote on) a bill that would prohibit ownership of U.S. agricultural land by any foreign adversary. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) spearheaded this noble effort. And it’s about time.
It is a travesty that our federal lawmakers have taken this long to formally address the ironic fact that an adversary like China, Russia or North Korea is allowed to purchase American farmland while those same countries strictly forbid the United States (or any other nation) from owning even one square foot of soil inside their Socialist borders.
You can be sure that China’s grabbing up farms in America is more than just an overt attempt to alter and ultimately control our precious food supply (Smithfield’s takeover some years back is one example); it is that Communist country’s commitment to control land nearest U.S. military installations for purposes of infiltrating our National defense entities.
I’d bet that most American farmers and ranchers who have sold land to China did so unknowingly. And I’m fairly certain that China uses several layers of “cover” to make it appear that farms and ranches are being conveyed to “legitimate business interests.”
Shame on any U.S.-based realtor or other land-acquisition business group that is — or has been — involved in the conveyance of precious American agricultural ground to our chief global adversary. Double shame.
My guess is that the only way to stop “dead in its tracks” — and even reverse — this “fire sale” auctioning off of U.S. soil is to elect, come this Nov. 5th, candidates who are solidly pro-American, pro-farmer and anti-foreign ownership of U.S. ag lands. And that, my fellow farmer, means voting for the Trump-Vance ticket. “Hold your nose” if you must and cringe if you may, but by no means vote for the pro-China Harris-Walz duo whose combined record is clearly not in favor of American farmers and ranchers (all one needs to do is review the potential ultra-liberal Vice-President’s decades-long coziness with China to know what he’d do if given the chance).
So if U.S. voters go to the polls this Nov. 5 and fail to elect pro-American, pro-agriculture and anti-foreign investment candidates, don’t be surprised if one day our grandchildren wake up to another school day where the language taught in our government classrooms is no longer English, but Mandarin.
Mark Davis
Liberty, W.Va.
