Rep. Molinaro took donation from China-owned farm corp amid national security concerns

Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro authored an amendment to increase oversight of foreign-owned farmland in the U.S. He also took thousands in donations from a Chinese company that owns American farmland.

Molinaro was elected to represent New York’s 19th district in 2022. He will face Democrat Josh Riley this November in what is expected to be a competitive race.

In November 2023, Molinaro introduced an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have provided new funds to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The money would be used to evaluate the security risks of foreign-owned farmland. In a floor speech explaining the amendment, Molinaro raised specific concerns about China.

“Food security is national security,” Molinaro said. “Recent reports … of a disturbing trend of increased ownership of farm operations by entities with ties to the Chinese and Russian governments is alarming and dangerous.” 

Molinaro went on to list a series of potential threats.

“Whether it’s actual farmland or advanced agribusinesses, adversarial control over these entities provide adversaries the opportunity to spy on our military assets, steal revolutionary ag technology and research, and undermine the United States food system,” he said.

The amendment was adopted with bipartisan support. The bill, however, stalled in the House and did not pass.

That same month, Molinaro’s campaign accepted a $2,500 donation from Syngenta, a global agriculture technology company based in Switzerland. In 2017, Syngenta was acquired by the state-owned China National Chemical Corporation, also known as ChemChina. 

Syngenta reportedly owns more than 1,000 acres of American farmland.

Despite proposing increased funding for CFIUS to monitor foreign-owned farmland, Molinaro voted repeatedly to cut funding for agencies that provide similar oversight. 

In September 2023, Molinaro backed a continuing resolution that called for stripping $100 million from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A year earlier, the FTC sued Syngenta for artificially inflating costs. The case is still ongoing. The continuing resolution did not pass. 

The continuing resolution also would have slashed resources for the FBI, which is actively investigating attempts by the Chinese government to disrupt the U.S. agricultural industry.

In Congress, Molinaro serves on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Committee. The NDAA is an annual bill that sets the budget, expenditures, and policies for the U.S. Department of Defense. The House and Senate both pass their own versions of the NDAA. The conference committee, made up of both senators and representatives, then decides what goes into the final package.

The NDAA Conference Committee convened in November 2023. The House version of the bill included an amendment to beef up CFIUS, similar to what Molinaro had proposed. The amendment, however, was stripped from the final legislation without explanation.

According to publicly available disclosures, Syngenta spent more than $1.1 million lobbying Congress on a host of issues in 2023. More than $320,000 was explicitly spent on “issues pertaining to foreign land ownership.” More than $800,000 was spent on “issues pertaining to U.S. land ownership.”

Thus far in the 2023 – 2024 election cycle, Syngenta has contributed $337,500 to lawmakers in both parties. More than 86% of these donations have gone to Republicans.