Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978
Public Law 95-460 · S. 3384 · 95th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Oct 14, 1978 · Foreign Trade and International Finance
Sponsor: Sen. Herman Talmadge (D-GA)
Cosponsors (4): Sen. Dick Clark, Sen. James Allen,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act - Requires a report to the Secretary of Agriculture, containing legal name, address, citizenship, type of interest, legal description and acreage of the land involved, intended agricultural purposes, and other specified information, from any: (1) foreign person (whether an individual, an organization, a government, or any combination thereof) who holds, acquires, or transfers any interest, other than a security interest, in agricultural land, or in nonagricultural land which subsequent to acquisition becomes agricultural land; or (2) person who holds or acquires such an interest in agricultural land when such person is not a foreign person, but who subsequently becomes one.
Establishes a civil penalty for failing to submit a required report or for knowingly submitting a report that is incomplete, misleading, or false. Requires a penalty amount not to exceed 25 percent of the fair market value of the land interest involved on the date of the penalty assessment. Authorizes the Secretary to take necessary action to monitor compliance with this Act.
Requires the Secretary to report to the President and to Congress: (1) an analysis of the information obtained; (2) a determination of the effects of foreign holdings, acquisitions, and transfers on family farms and rural communities; and (3) findings and conclusions regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the reporting requirements of this Act.
Requires the Secretary to transmit at the end of every six months to each State department of agriculture, or other appropriate State agency, a copy of each report submitted to the Secretary by a foreign person during such six-month period, which involved agricultural land located in such State.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 11 actions.
- Oct 14, 1978Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 95-460.
- Oct 4, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Oct 2, 1978Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendments.
- Sep 26, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 13356.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- Aug 11, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- Aug 8, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.