Tuberville Urges Senate to Confirm Hegseth and Rollins, Secure American Farmland with the FARM Act

January 23, 2025 – WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) spoke on the Senate floor in support of Pete Hegseth, President Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Defense Tuberville said that Hegseth will bring much-needed change to the Department of Defense.

Sen. Tuberville addressed legislation he reintroduced on Wednesday, the Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act. Tuberville said that the FARM Act will help secure America's agricultural industry and food supply chains from foreign adversaries by creating a permanent seat for the Secretary of Agriculture on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Tuberville also encouraged the Senate to move quickly on confirming President Trump's pick for Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins. Tuberville said that Rollins will fight for America's farming communities and defend against foreign influence in the U.S. agricultural sector.

"Just a few minutes ago our nominee for new Secretary Defense, Pete Hegseth," said Tuberville. "Now the procedure is, as we just voted, to close the vote and now, we wait 30 hours from just a few minutes ago and have the final vote on his nomination, which it looks like that he has the votes of a majority to be appointed, or sent to the White House, to be confirmed as the next Secretary of Defense."

"Pete Hegseth is the choice, the right choice," Sen. Tuberville said. "I like his age, I like his demeanor, I like the things he brings to our military. He's exciting and he will energize this military into the next decade. And I'm excited about that."

"For years now I've been sounding the alarm about foreign ownership of American farmland and other elements of our food chain," said Sen. Tuberville. "According to USDA data from December 2023, foreign investors own approximately 45 million acres of U.S. agriculture land."

"Alabama is experiencing, my state, this firsthand," said Tuberville. "We have the fourth largest amount of foreign owned agricultural land in the United States at 2.2 million acres, most of which is forest land. It's not really agriculture in terms of growing row crops, it's basically our forest. You know, I represent over 62,000 farmers in the state of Alabama. I hear from them time and time again about foreign activity in our agriculture community. Threats like these are something our states can't handle all on their own."

"We got our eyes closed. Which is why yesterday I introduced the Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act, called the FARM Act, here on the floor that will accomplish three major things," stated Tuberville. "First, it would add the Secretary of Agriculture as a permanent member of CFIUS. In other words, that somebody that's going to help our agriculture people vet land that's being bought by foreign entities. Second, it would protect U.S. agriculture industry from foreign control through transactions, mergers, and acquisitions, and agreements, and it would also designate agriculture supply chains as critical infrastructure and critical technology. Third, it would require a report to Congress on current and potential foreign investments in the U.S. agriculture industry. This legislation, folks, is long overdue."

"There's no better person to fill this permanent seat on CFIUS than my good friend, who we had a hearing today, as a new nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins," said Tuberville. "Brooke was brought up in a small agricultural community of Glen Rose, Texas. She comes from several generations of American farmers. She participated in levels of 4-H and FFA. She raised livestock throughout her life. Now she is [a] mother, she's involved in the show steer industry with her four children. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural development from A&M and later earned a law degree at the University of Texas."

"Later at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, she was engaged with rural and agriculture communities throughout Texas," said Tuberville. "She led litigation efforts that focused on the defense of Texas landowners and farmers against federal interference and regulations. Next, Brooke went on to serve in several roles in President Trump's White House. She served as the Director of Domestic Policy Council, Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives, and Director of The Office of American Innovation. In these roles, she helped roll back terrible EPA rules like Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, that targeted farmers and ranchers."

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.