Marsha Blackburn: Democrats Voted Against Measure to Stop China from Buying Farmland Near Military Installations

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Wednesday blasted Democrats for voting against measures to stop the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from buying U.S. farmland near military installations.

“What would you think if you found out the farm that sat between you and a big military installation was going to be purchased by a group out of China owned in part by the Chinese Communist Party?” Blackburn asked in the video released Wednesday.

“Would you be worrying about your privacy? Would you worry about the sovereignty of our nation? Would you worry about the surveillance that’s taking place on that military installation?” she asked.

“I think you would. I have offered legislation that would shut that activity down. Guess who all voted against it? You got it. My colleagues across the aisle,” Blackburn added, blasting her Democrat colleagues:

China should not be allowed to purchase farmland next to military installations.

I introduced legislation banning just that. Can you guess who voted against it?

All my Democrat colleagues. pic.twitter.com/lAxIbwzaqI

— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) February 15, 2023

This is far from the first time Blackburn has highlighted this issue.

“Why would Democrats vote against an amendment that keeps federal funds out of the Chinese Communist Party’s hands and into American farmer’s?” she asked last August as Democrats worked to pass the $700 billion “Inflation Reduction Act.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is among those attempting to address the issue — China buying U.S. farmland — at the local level, identifying it as a “huge problem.” 

“My view on the — our economy in Florida is, you know, we don’t want to have holdings by hostile nations,” DeSantis said during a press conference in January.

“And so if you look at the Chinese Communist Party, they’ve been very active throughout the Western hemisphere in gobbling up land and investing in different things,” DeSantis said, adding it is not in the best interest of the U.S. to allow China to buy farmland —  particularly land “close to military bases.”

During a January appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the governor added that the state legislature is seeking to put a “flat ban” in place, stopping China from making such purchases.

“American policymakers for a generation have been empowering the CCP. They said it would end up working out. China would become a democracy. In fact, this is a very serious threat to our country. Why would we want them to have even more influence over American society than they already do?” he asked.