(NAFB.com) – Washington Representative Dan Newhouse recently introduced a bill aimed at preventing the Chinese government from purchasing public or private land in the U.S. The bill is called the Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act.

The bill would also prevent the purchase of land by foreign nationals associated with the Government of China. Additionally, the legislation would prohibit the same associations from participating in any USDA programs except food safety inspections. “We hail from the greatest country in the world, and there is simply no reason we should be reliant on a communist country like China for our food supply,” Newhouse says. “If we cede responsibility of our food supply over to an adversarial nation, we could be forced into exporting food grown within our borders and meant for our own use.”

China’s American agricultural land holdings have risen during the last decade to $2 billion worth of land.