Mark Alford: Bill to protect America’s nuclear deterrent for US security | Opinion
In an era of intensifying great power competition, the security of our nation’s most sensitive military installations cannot be taken for granted. That is why I am proud to announce that language from my Strategic Assets Protection Act has been included in the 2027 Financial Services and General Government funding bill, which recently passed out of the House Appropriations Committee.
This provision marks a critical step forward in safeguarding the crown jewel of American deterrence: our nuclear triad. For the first time, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States or CFIUS, an inter-agency task force headed by the Treasury Department that is tasked with screening foreign investments for national security risks, will be required to review all real estate and business transactions near nuclear triad sites that have occurred since 2017. This retroactive scrutiny is essential because our foreign adversaries — particularly entities linked to the Chinese Communist Party — have been quietly acquiring property near these strategic locations with far too little oversight.
All American military bases deserve protection, but sites associated with our nuclear triad represent the bedrock of our national defense and President Donald Trump’s “peace through strength” doctrine. These assets deter aggression by ensuring that any adversary contemplating an attack on the United States would face catastrophic consequences.
Recent investigative reporting has laid bare the urgency of this issue. Reports uncovered potential CCP-linked ownership of a trailer park right next to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri’s 4th District — home of the legendary B-2 Spirit stealth bomber fleet. They also revealed alleged CCP-linked ownership of two golf clubs adjacent to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, headquarters of the Air Force’s Global Strike Command. These are not ordinary properties. They sit in the shadow of America’s most advanced nuclear delivery systems.
The pattern is clear and alarming. For years, adversarial actors have exploited gaps in our foreign investment review process to position themselves near the very assets that guarantee our security. This foreign ownership, enabled by transactions that are clearly under CFIUS’ purview, pose grave risks to our operational security, intelligence protection and overall strategic posture. We cannot allow potential vulnerabilities to persist simply because they were overlooked in the past.
My Strategic Assets Protection Act directly confronts this threat by mandating CFIUS review of these specific high-risk areas. It ensures that deals involving foreign adversaries near our nuclear triad sites receive the rigorous national security scrutiny they demand.
Importantly, this is not an unfunded mandate. The same funding bill provides CFIUS with $22 million — an increase that equips the committee with the resources necessary to carry out these additional reviews effectively and without compromising its other critical responsibilities.
This provision is a victory for commonsense national security. It demonstrates that Congress is serious about countering the generational challenge posed by the Chinese Communist Party and protecting the strategic assets that keep Americans safe. While the legislative process continues, I remain committed to seeing this language enacted into law.
Our nuclear triad is too important to leave unprotected. With the inclusion of the Strategic Assets Protection Act in the government funding process, we are sending a clear message: America will not allow foreign adversaries to encroach upon the foundations of our deterrence. The days of impunity for these risky transactions are coming to an end.
Mark Alford represents Missouri’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives and serves on the House Appropriations Committee.