Chair and Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on china. They discuss the acquisition of u. S. Farmland by china and security concerns related to the food sector. Congressman Glenn Thompson chairs the house and Agriculture Committee. Congressman Glenn Thompson of pennsylvania chairs the house Agriculture Committee. The Committee Comes to order and thank you for joining the the e committee will come t order. Good morning and thank you all for joining for todays hearing, the danger china poses to american agriculture. After brief opening remarks members will receive testimony from our Witnesses Today and the hearing will be open to questions. We traditionally dont do questions with our panels of our colleagues, but i know governor noem was interested in taking a few questions. Timeline wise i dont know if we will do a full five minute round with the governor. Five minutes of questions as normal. So, good morning and thank you all for being here for a timely and necessary conversation about the threats china poses to american agriculture. The peoples republic of china governed by the Chinese Communist party, which is where this comes from. It doesnt come from individuals this is imposed basically were looking at links to the Chinese Communist party. It is going out of its way to reduce its alliance on american agriculture aisle while aggressively pursuing tactics that threaten our nations ability to feed itself. These threats are multifaceted, strategic, incendiary, and require a proactive aided response. The last few years have seen china steel u. S. Intellectual property, heck cybersecurity, weaponize trade and acquire American Farmland at an alarming rate. Each of these disrupt our National Security, rural communities, and resiliency. China using its own regulatory system to steal our property and we have seen this in semi conductors to see. Not to mention the scale and sophistication by which china can manipulate Critical Infrastructure as exposed vulnerabilities in american technologies. This interference has ranged from data breaches and theft of research to ramping up disruptions of irrigation and transportation systems. In 2022, the chairman and i along with 125 republican colleagues asked the Government Accountability office to evaluate Foreign Investments to u. S. Farmland and its impact on american security, trade. As many of you know in 2021, the department of agriculture estimates Foreign Investment in Agricultural Land grew to 40 million acres. A few months ago we received a final report which showed congress where gaps exist in our framework and the coordination between federal agencies could increase visibility into potential National Security risks related to Foreign Investment. Congress took a natural first step with the recent passage of the consolidated appropriations act with the bill addressing Foreign Ownership of land by approving the tracking system of it. The fact china imports almost as much food as the u. S. Exports to the whole world makes this conversation more difficult. In recent years, the u. S. Has seen record export values to china for soybeans, corn, beef, tree nuts, and sorghum, all of which are major contributors to our domestic farm economy underscoring the importance of expanded Market Access and market adversity elsewhere. So, how do we strike the balance protecting our producers, consumers, and every piece of agriculture value chain . While keeping pace with chinas needs . How do we reduce our reliance on one country without undermining a necessity of a strong export market . How do we think smartly about policies that mitigate threats while protecting our best assets . Todays witnesses come to the table with lived experience and decades of knowledge on china and these very questions and i welcome each of you and i look forward to the discussion. With that, i would like to welcome distinguished Ranking Member, mr. Scott, for any opening remarks. Thank you, chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of todays hearing is to discuss the influence that china has on american agriculture. But unfortunately some of the rhetoric surrounding this topic may derail us from tackling the real issues at hand and may contribute hopefully not but may contribute to violence against Asian Americans. And i want all americans to know that we are on the Agriculture Committee condemn all bigotry, including race motivated threats and acts of violence. This is about agriculture policy, not people policy. I also want us to keep in mind that china is an important trading partner to the United States and we need a thorough and policy heavy conversation so that we can help the American Farmers and our agriculture system navigate this difficult, challenging, somewhat thorny issue. And i hope everyone here today will engage in a serious, factbased conversation and avoid fear mongering and alarmism. Though i am told this isnt the topic of this hearing, i am also pleased that the recently enacted agriculture appropriations bill will help usda update its outdated system attracting farm, agricultural, Land Ownership in the United States of america. And if we are going to have a serious discussion about foreign influence on american agriculture, we must remember that china is our largest trade partner accounting for 33. 7 billion in u. S. Agriculture exports just last fiscal year alone. American farmers are the most efficient and productive, and because of this, we produce far more than we americans can consume. My colleagues will also note that we are in an agricultural trade deficit right now. And i am here to tell you that alienating our trade partners will only deepen that deficit. American farmers need large markets to export their products and when those markets are lost, who doesnt harm . Are farmers and then the American People. We saw the implications of this when the Trump Administration started a trade war with china, creating chaos and undermining markets for our American Farmers. Since the trade war, shut American Farmers out of china. What . Brazilian farmers have filled the gap, increasing their exports to china as our market share decreased. Now trump is calling for a 60 tariff on all chinese goods. This would have drastic impacts on american agriculture production. It would increase costs for consumers and would almost certainly lead to devastating, retaliatory tariffs placed on the u. S. Agriculture exports. So i think it is fair to think the u. S. Being so dependent on a single export market, who is also a strategic competitor, raises and poses a risk for our American Farmers. One way we can address this concern is to expand trade in existing markets wildly open new markets. And i continue to support increasing the Market Access program. That is the way to go. Foreign Market Development program in the farm bill, i believe this new trade deal are critical for our american agriculture, however there are many places where i am very critical of the Chinese Government. The theft of seed and other Agriculture Technology is highly concerning to me and continues to be a problem. Market distribution through domestic price support programs and ignoring wto decisions, creating an uneven Playing Field for u. S. Farmers, and i also remain highly critical of any Foreign Government seeking to buy American Land near a central essential intelligence or our military installations. This is now a major National Security. We must protect our National Security interests. This is a National Security issue of soaring magnitude to this nation. Weve got to protect our farmland and not get it in the hands of foreign interests, particularly china. I look forward to hearing from my witness, chairman, today and coming out of this hearing with an improved understanding with our relationship with china and how we can Work Together to protect americas agriculture interests. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. The chair would request other Opening Statement for the record. Witnesses may begin your testimony. And sure there is time for questions. I call the gentleman from south dakota to introduce our first witness today. Mr. Chairman, governing a nation should be a team sport. Unfortunately there are a lot of free agents in politics. People dont understand shared vision and shared efforts. Locally luckily our speaker, my friend, my governor, she knows how to Work Together. She understands that we get a lot more done when the federal government and State Governments are trying to find a path forward together. I dont think there is a month that goes by she isnt showing the leadership necessary to be able to work, half our teamwork with her team, whether its protecting American Farmland from the Chinese Communist party, getting tiktok off government devices, making sure her state Pension Program has the flexibility to best from ccp influences, making sure the farm belt priorities are right, managing the Black Hills National Forest in an appropriate way, protecting Mount Rushmore i could go on for an hour, sir. And i know you dont want me to. [ laughter ] the ways that the speaker and i have been able to Work Together. And so, ive just got to tell you, i am honored to have a real south dakota and, a leader, a partner come back to the committee and share some wisdom with us. Mr. Chairman, the governor of the great state of south dakota, kristi noem. I thank the gentleman. Welcome, governor noem. Our second witness, our esteemed colleague, the gentleman from wisconsin, Mike Gallagher , chairman of the select committee on the Chinese Communist party. Congressman, thank you for joining us. Hopefully our third witness today, and i know he had some scheduling conflicts initially here so we are hoping he will be able to join us in time to offer his perspective as another respected colleague of mine, of ours, someone i work with on many issues including courier in education, the gentleman from illinois, roger morphy, Ranking Member on the Chinese Communist party. Thank you all , witnesses, for joining us today. We will proceed to your testimony. You will each have five minutes. The timer will count down to zero at which point your time has expired. Governor noem, please begin when you are ready. It is an honor to be with you today and thank you, congressman, for that kind introduction. You are a wonderful friend and you are doing a great job because you still have my staff and kept them. No, but you are a wonderful representative for south dakota. Thank you for caring so passionately for our people. Chairman, sitting in front of me today, chairman lucas, was my chairman advisor in the house of representatives and had a chance to do two farm bill serving under his leadership on this committee was a special honor for me and i loved being a member of his team as he put together Foreign Policy which i always referred to as food policy for the United States of america so it is wonderful to see you again, chairman lucas. I look forward to continuing to receive your wisdom over the years. Chairman scott, Ranking Members of the committee, thank you for allowing me to be here today to discuss this topic. I know very well that each day you protect our nations food supply but you are stewards of our land and it is a treasure for us to do that each and every day. I come before you and said as the 33rd governor of south dakota. My home state is known for its gorgeous black hills, rolling plains, and iconic Mount Rushmore. We have a lot to be proud of and if you havent come visit us, you probably should because its beautiful. Agriculture is the number one industry and tourism is the second. Is incredibly to our people our lamb stay in good shape and we continue to produce. This year is special to me because this is the 30th year that i have worked on the agriculture policy. Ive spent my lifetime working on policy not just being a farmer and a rancher and raising my family on the land, but being involved in meetings. At the age of 22, my dad was killed in an accident on the family farm and i got angry when i found out how my family would be hit tragically by the death tax. I showed up at meetings to talk about policy and how it impacted small farms. At the time, tom daschle, a democrat, appointed me to serve on the Farm Service Agency state committee, the agency that oversees the farm programs in the state of south dakota. I did that for many years as a young wife and mother, as a farmer and rancher running an operation our state and i was heavily involved in the federal farm programs in our state making sure they worked for the ranchers and were as flexible as possible to give them the freedom to choose how to run their farms. I served on many commissions and taskforces in washington, d. C. During those years to help disadvantaged farmers, people in tough situations, critical situations. As the general manager of our Business Operations i ran the farm for many decades. I was first elected to the state legislature in 2006 and became the assistant majority leader in the house. I rewrote our agriculture property tax system. I ended up running for congress, was elected, served on this committee and we worked on two farm bills when i served on this committee and served on Natural Resources, armed services, education workforce, and the ways and Means Community committee and was prouder to see that signed into law. In 2018 when i ran for governor, i won and was reelected again last year, or in 2022. Im in my second term now. I tell you all of this because i think it is important for you to know that my heart is with the land and with our people, but when it comes to policy that i know what i am talking about and i know its because i live it. Today i focus of this committee on the danger china poses to american agriculture. Over the years i have witnessed this hostile communist country work to systematically take over our Food Supply Chain. Decades ago they started buying our fertilizer companies, controlling our ability to access fertilizer and bring it into the United States. I watched them via power Chemical Companies as i worked on programs and policies at the state and federal level. I watched us as we sold citizenship to Chinese Communist members, members of the communist party, for investment and our Processing Systems and most of our facilities are owned by the Chinese Government. Now theyre coming for our land and when they buy up our land they will complete their chain of control of our food supply. Between 2010 and 2020, the Chinese Communist partys holdings of ag land increased by 5300 . Reports show china owns 384,000 acres of u. S. Ag land valued at 2 billion. This should be alarming to all of us. Usda admits that this may not even account for all of the land they own because of there is very little track of foreign interest involved in large transactions. In fact there is very little reporting that happens at the state or federal level and little consequences for allowing countries who hate us from owning our land. Just this past summer, we had members of the communist Party Contact our State Government and want to come and visit to our processing facilities, farms, and visit south dakota. We declined all of those meetings but within days we received a phone call from the state department telling us those chinese spies. They were there to steal our intellectual property, our genetics, wanted to debrief us if we had met with them. Thank god we did not. We were told they were there to help improve our trade relations, that they were there to improve our business, our exports, but instead, they