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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Protecting Military Installations and Ranges Act of 2021, a bill to prohibit adversaries from acquiring land near military bases, which they could use to monitor U.S. armed forces activities and put military installations at risk. This legislation would restrict any effort by Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea to buy U.S. land within 100 miles of a U.S. military installation, or 50 miles from military areas. It would also allow the U.S. Department of Defense to prevent construction on any site under investigation. 
 
Congressmen Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), and Pat Fallon (R-TX) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.   
 
Rubio is Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies. 
 
“The Chinese Communist Party and our other adversaries should not be able to purchase land close to our military bases,” Rubio said. “If the United States is going to get serious about combatting China and other foreign adversaries, our government must prevent them from acquiring U.S. property without scrutiny. This legislation would address this national security threat by expanding government oversight and security around military installations. I am proud to join Senator Cruz in introducing this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support its advancement.”
 
“America will not tolerate espionage and is empowered to counter the widespread nefarious actions of adversarial regimes,” Cruz said. “I am proud to introduce this commonsense bill to defend our national security interests and ensure regimes that threaten the United States – such as the Chinese Communist Party – don’t have the ability to purchase land in order to intercept and disrupt military activities.”