Ohio Senate Democrat candidate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said, “We must do everything in our power” to block China from buying American farmland despite voting for the Inflation Reduction Act, in which Senate Democrats blocked a provision to protect against China’s incursion into America’s farmland.
During the amendment process, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) proposed an amendment that would ban China from exploiting USDA farm programs to purchase American farmland. Senate Democrats blocked the amendment.
Ryan did not raise these concerns when the House voted on the $700 billion Inflation Reduction Act. Instead, he cheered many farmer provisions in the bill, including $300 million for “climate-friendly farming.”
The Ohio Democrat also said that the bill would help America better compete with China.
“Best of all, this bill positions us to rebuild the great American middle class and finally create a level playing field for our workers to outcompete China,” Ryan said.
However, now that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) visited the Buckeye State last week and praised J.D. Vance’s opposition to the Chinese Communist Party, Ryan took a more hardline stance against China’s purchasing of American farmland.
“We’re very mindful of them trying to infiltrate our economy,” DeSantis said last week. “We’re going to be doing legislation to block them for purchasing land in our state, and we need other states to follow that as well.”
Data from the USDA suggests that China owns over 191,000 acres of U.S. land, but that was before Fufeng Group, a Chinese company, purchased 300 acres in North Dakota for $2.6 million.
Ryan called for the government to do everything to block China from purchasing American farmland.
“America’s farmland belongs in the hands of America’s farmers,” Ryan said in a statement on Friday, adding:
The Chinese Communist Party’s malicious practice of buying up our land poses a serious threat to our national security and our ability to feed our own people. We must do everything in our power to block China’s efforts to control our food production and ensure we keep our agricultural supply chains at home.
The congressman told the Ohio Capital Journal that he voted for many agricultural bills that direct the government to block land purchases tied to the Russian, Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian governments.
The Vance campaign told Breitbart News in a statement that Ryan’s voting history shows that he has not taken substantial action against China.
The Vance campaign said, “Tim Ryan talks tough on China when running for office, but his voting record tells a different story. He has voted to ship our strategic oil reserves to China. He has voted to let them continue buying our farmland. Ohio cannot afford to have a shill for Communist China like Tim Ryan in the U.S. Senate.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
