Senator Seeks CFIUS Review of California Land Purchases
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., urged the Treasury Department Oct. 15 to use the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review reports that China-based investors are buying Southern California land ravaged by January wildfires.
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In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the senator said he’s particularly concerned that some of the investors may use the land to test prefabricated “smart homes” that would not only be connected to the U.S. electric grid but could send American citizens’ data to China. He said CFIUS seems to have jurisdiction over the land purchases because U.S. law allows the agency to review real estate transactions near certain military bases, some of which are in Southern California.
“President [Donald] Trump and his administration have made countering Communist Chinese land grabs a priority -- and for good reason,” Scott wrote. “These calculated land purchases are the latest examples of the [Chinese Communist Party’s] attempts to destroy us.”
A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment.