SAN FRANCISCO—After $800 million worth of land near Travis Air Force Base was purchased by an entity called Flannery Associates, the U.S. Congress is imposing more guards against foreign adversary purchases of land near sensitive sites.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) introduced legislation on July 12 to strengthen and expand protections around national security sites, critical infrastructure, and farmland.
Public records of Solano, the county where Travis Air Force Base is located, can trace Flannery Associates LLC back to Feb. 9, 2018. Roughly 52,000 acres with 314 land purchases are directly connected with this mysterious company.
“The land purchases go up to the fence of Travis Air Force Base, the home of the largest wing of the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command,” the statement says.
When asked if he had spying concerns, U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) told ABC7: “I have every reason in the world to believe that. This land is adjacent to a critical national security platform, Travis Air Force Base; therefore [it’s] an area where spy operations or any other nefarious activity could take place.”
“That could detrimentally impact the ability of Travis Air Force Base to operate in a moment of national emergency,” Mr. Garamendi added.
He raised the alarm to the U.S. Air Force, prompting a federal investigation of the Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review Office. However, after 8 months, officials still are not able to identify who is behind the group.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) initiated a separate investigation under requests from Mr. Garamendi and Mr. Thompson.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture looked into the matter, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Still, no one can seem to track down who’s really behind Flannery Associates.
“Who are these people?” Mr. Garamendi said on ABC7. “Where did they get the money where they could pay five to ten times the normal value that others would pay for this farmland?”
The bill, also called the “Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites From Foreign Adversaries Act,” will “help identify foreign actors who are seeking to purchase land near military installations while maintaining food security throughout our country,” said Mr. Thompson in the statement.
The bill will give CFIUS jurisdiction over all land purchases (with exceptions for real estate in urban areas and single housing units) by foreign adversary entities, and make it mandatory to file to CFIUS for purchase of land near sensitive sites by foreign adversary entities.
It also expands the list of sensitive national security sites to all military facilities, acknowledged intelligence sites, national laboratories, defense-funded university-affiliated research centers, critical telecommunication nodes, and more.
The Biden administration created restrictions after a Chinese firm named Fufeng attempted to build a plant near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. These restrictions include provisions proposed by the Investment Security Office of the Treasury Department in May, which would require the U.S. government’s approval for foreign citizens and companies to buy property within 100 miles of eight military bases.
