After Ukraine’s surprise drone assault on Russia, new attention drawn to sensitive sites stateside

After Ukraine launched a sudden drone assault on Russian installations it brought new attention to the U S own vulnerabilities regardless of which side the U S stood on Kyiv s attack In up-to-date years Chinese Communist Party-linked entities have commercially targeted land around the U S including in the vicinity of sensitive installations like the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota The Fufeng Group s -acre farmland purchase in first raised the collective antennae of Congress to such under-the-radar transactions and even Florida Gov Ron DeSantis swiftly banned them in his state as a end among other efforts around the country On Tuesday North Dakota s senators agreed that the U S must remain vigilant for any malign activity whether it be from relatively novel drone assaults to possible espionage through real estate transactions UKRAINE S SURPRISE ATTACK SHOWS IT MAY TAKE A MAJOR DRONE STRIKE TO CHANGE US DEFENSE FRAMEWORK EXPERTS SAY When adversaries can buy our land attend our universities photograph silos in our prairies perform aerial surveillance park their ships near our military bases or even just join our PTAs they have more opportunities to be nefarious Republican Sen Kevin Cramer recounted Fox News Digital Our posture must dependably be vigilant never assuming foreign actors are benign or have the best intentions he noted Whether it s directly spying indirectly influencing or sending drones to blow up aircraft the ability of the enemy increases when we allow them easy access near our national interests Cramer s Flickertail State counterpart Sen John Hoeven joined an effort to prevent such land-buys and has worked with federal partners to update the process in which foreign commitment is analyzed for approval and decided upon We need to remain vigilant against China and other adversaries commented Hoeven who is co-sponsoring South Dakota Sen Mike Rounds bill banning individuals and entities controlled by China Russia Iran and North Korea from purchasing farmland or commercial land near sensitive federal sites CHINA'S US INFLUENCE COULD FACE CRACKDOWN UNDER SLATE OF NEW BILLS At the same time we re working to update the CFIUS process which governs federal approval of foreign investments to ensure proper reviews are taking place as well Hoeven reported We also are working to develop the equipment we need to protect our domestic military bases from probable drone threats Rounds bill also has bipartisan patronage including from Sen Catherine Cortez-Masto D-Nev whose state also hosts sensitive executive sites like Nellis Air Force Base and Area It is common sense that we should not allow our foreign adversaries to buy agricultural land next to these locations Masto announced in a message CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPRounds added in a message that America s near-peer adversaries are looking for any workable opportunity to surveil our nation s capabilities and support Even private-sector entities have expressed concern including the South Dakota Soybean Association which announced farmland must be protected from foreign purchase for both agricultural and national precaution purposes