Thread: Texas Senate approves new bill banning citizens of China and other hostile nations fr

Texas Senate approves new bill banning citizens of China and other hostile nations from owning large properties in the state

Friday, April 28, 2023 by: Ramon Tomey
Tags: big government, China, discrimination, enemy nations, greater texan, hostile nations, Iran, land ownership, Lois Kolkhorst, national security, North Korea, racism, Russia, SB 147, Texas Senate, threat assessment, traitors, treason
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(Natural News) The Texas Senate approved a proposal banning citizens of China and other hostile nations from owning large tracts of land in the Lone Star State.
State senators gave initial approval to Senate Bill (SB) 147 on April 25, according to the Texarkana Gazette. The proposal introduced by Republican State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst was approved on party lines. SB 147 needs one more vote in the senate before it heads to the Texas House of Representatives for consideration.
If it becomes law, SB 147 would ban citizens from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from buying large swaths of land in Texas. The bill used a threat assessment report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as a basis for banning the four nations. Gov. Greg Abbott has said he would sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.
“SB 147 strikes the balance of [upholding] national security – and the state is vital to our national security – while also allowing those that are seeking freedom, seeking asylum [and] fleeing those authoritarian regimes to come here, live their lives and live the American dream,” Kolkhorst said.
Republican State Sen. Mayes Middleton slammed the four nations targeted by SB 147, dubbing them “enemies of the U.S. and enemies of Texas.” He said during his speech on the State Senate floor: “They have realized that frankly, at the end of the day, they can be more successful at hurting this country and hurting this great state through economic means than through the battlefield.”
SB 147 built on a law adopted in 2021 that banned companies based in the four adversary nations from owning critical infrastructure in Texas. It emerged following reports of a Chinese firm purchasing land near Laughlin Air Force Base in Val Verde County. (Related: National security threat: Grand Forks City Council blocks Chinese-owned corn mill near air base.)
While the initial version of the bill provided exceptions to dual citizens, Kolkhorst later expanded it to include legal permanent residents and homesteads purchased by citizens of the four countries.
“To be clear, people fleeing adversarial nations can purchase shopping centers, restaurants, car washes, and other businesses to pursue the American dream,” the state senator clarified. “Additionally, the bill preserves the homestead exemption – so those same folks fleeing totalitarian regimes can purchase a rural residence of up to 20 acres of agricultural land.”
Critics denounce SB 147 as RACIST

Despite Kolkhorst trying to allay fears about her proposal, Democratic State Sen. John Whitmire said the damage to Asian Americans in Texas was already done. He told Kolkhorst: “You’ve already impacted them. They’re scared to death of you. They’re scared to death of this legislation.”
Meanwhile, several Chinese Americans who voiced opposition to the bill said they intend to continue fighting against the legislation.
“We’re going to continue calling members of the House of Representatives to express our concerns because this is unconstitutional. This is discrimination against Chinese Americans,” said Jian Xie, a member of multiple organizations in North Texas with close ties to the Asian and Chinese American communities.
Jerry Pi, a resident of Allen in Collin County, said he has lost hope for the bill to be stopped in the Texas Legislature. “My personal plan is that I’ll try to contribute to fund organizations who challenge this law in court,” he shared.
Tom Tong, a Dallas-based attorney, said he wasn’t surprised that SB 147 passed in the Texas Senate. “I would hope all the Asian Texans who are eligible to vote know what’s going on right now and that lawmakers do make laws that closely impact our daily lives,” he remarked.
Aside from the allegations of discrimination, some legal experts have raised questions about the bill’s constitutionality. They argue that the SB 147 appears to contravene state and federal bans on discrimination based on nationality.
Still, Kolkhorst believes her proposal would survive a court challenge. She is not alone in proposing bills to counter attempts by enemy nations to purchase U.S. farmland. State lawmakers in North Carolina and Florida have also considered similar bills that protect national security from hostile nations.
Listen to Sen. John Thune (R-SD) as he warns about China’s purchase of U.S. farmland in strategic locations.

This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:

Director of National Intelligence calls China “National Security Threat No. 1.”
China continues to snatch up U.S. farmland, American companies at alarming rates.
GOP senator warns Biden admin to take Chinese purchases of U.S. farmland seriously.
Compromised Biden admin refuses to address massive Chinese purchases of farmland, other property near U.S. military bases.
Sources include:
TexarkanaGazette.com
MSN.com
Brighteon.com

Texas Senate approves new bill banning citizens of China and other hostile nations from owning large properties in the state – NaturalNews.com

TEXAS

Texas Senate Passes Legislation Banning Hostile Nations From Buying Farmland



Fields waiting to be irrigated are seen in Quemado, Texas, on Feb. 22, 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)


By Frank Fang
April 28, 2023Updated: April 28, 2023
0:00 5:24 Audio available for the seeing impaired

The Texas Senate has approved legislation that bans the purchase of farmland by citizens and entities associated with hostile foreign nations—a bill that its author said will provide “sweeping state and national security protections.”
Republican Texas Sen. Lois Kolkhorst announced the passing of her legislation on Facebook on April 26, following a 19-12 vote in the state Senate earlier in the day, where one Democrat joined 18 Republicans in passing the measure.
“This bill protects Texas farmland, oil and gas, rare earth materials and timber from being owned by foreign entities classified as hostile by the Director of U.S. National Intelligence for three consecutive reports. These nations currently include China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran,” Kolkhorst wrote.
Communist China is the greatest threat to U.S. national security, followed by Russia, Iran, and North Korea, according to the 2022 threat assessment report (pdf) issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The report called out the Chinese regime as presenting “the broadest, most active, and persistent cyber espionage threat to the U.S. Government and private sector networks.”
SB 147

Kolkhorst introduced the legislation, SB 147, in November last year and was supported by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The original version of the legislation (pdf) named the four nations, but the final draft (pdf) was amended to allow a country to be added or removed from the list.
The original bill was softened amid criticism from some Democrats and locals. Initially, the bill banned the purchase of property by any individual who is “a citizen of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.” However, the final draft specifically points out that the ban does not apply to lawful permanent residents, U.S. citizens, and dual citizens.
The property includes agricultural land, improvements, mines and quarries, mineral deposits, and standing timber, according to the legislation.
The Texas attorney general is also granted the authority to investigate possible violations if “a reasonable suspicion” arises that an entity or individual buying property is associated with one of the countries designated by the ODNI reports, according to the legislation. The state’s top law enforcement officer could then bring cases to district courts for divestment proceedings.
“Texas is rich in its natural resources and is home to invaluable strategic military bases and installations. With SB 147, we can protect our Texas food supply and energy resources as well,” Kolkhorst wrote.
Kolkhorst’s legislation builds on SB 2116, known as the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, which prohibits Texas governments and businesses from making critical infrastructure deals with entities from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The legislation went into effect in June 2021.
SB 147 has now been moved to the Texas House for consideration.

Discussions

Democrat Texas Rep. Gene Wu, an outspoken critic of Kolkhorst’s legislation, issued a statement on April 26, saying he was “frustrated by the Senate’s passage of SB 147 in its current form.”
“Even with the amendments offered, this legislation still takes away the rights of an entire class of people without due process and solely on the basis of their national origin,” Wu wrote.
“National security is a serious issue, but if we are concerned about the actions of foreign governments, then legislation should only affect foreign governments and their agents,” he added. “Our community will continue to work, in the Texas House, to eliminate the unnecessarily discriminatory aspects of this bill.”
However, state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, one of the co-authors of SB 147 and the lone Democrat who voted in favor of it on Wednesday, dismissed critics’ concerns about the bill during a Senate floor discussion on April 25.
“We’re not trying to target people. We’re trying to target nations that pose a security risk to this great nation of ours,” Hinojosa said. “It’s incorrect to say that this bill is discriminatory.”
“We should not overlook the point that many of these nations are a threat to our security,” Hinojosa added, saying these countries “have made it very clear that they want to destroy our country, destroy our democracy, destroy our way of life.”
Hinojosa said anyone who has doubts about the Chinese regime posing as a security threat to the United States should look no further than the regime’s police station in New York City.
On April 17, the FBI arrested two people on charges of operating a secret police station. They conspired to work as agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and took orders from Beijing to track down and silence Chinese dissidents living in the United States, prosecutors said.

Texas Senate Passes Legislation Banning Hostile Nations From Buying Farmland (theepochtimes.com)

Non-citizens should not be able to buy ANY real estate. Lease only.