Address the Threat in Our Own Backyard

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, since I was a little boy I have been told that a dog that won't bark in his own backyard ain't much of a dog.

Mr. Speaker, the number one enemy to the Communist Chinese Party is the United States of America. As a matter of fact, Xi Jinping has clearly stated that by 2049 he wants China to be the world leader diplomatically, economically, militarily, even in space. As a matter of fact, they are on pace right now to outperform and pass the United States as a leader in space before 2045.

Where are we right now? Well, China owns $870 billion in U.S. Treasuries that finance our debt. They either own or have a huge portion of the Chicago Stock Exchange, AMC Theaters, General Electric's appliance division, General Motors, and Smithfield Foods, just to name a few.

On another alarming note, they own 384,000 acres of American agricultural land. That is a 30 percent increase just since 2019. On top of that, they own land near an Air Force base in North Dakota. That is a clear threat to our national security.

That is what the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration appropriations bill is going to address. It is going to put American interests first by directing the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit the purchase of land by those associated with our foreign adversaries.

Mr. Speaker, this dog is barking, and Congress needs to address the threat right here in our own backyard.

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