Speech #980178354

But. foreign owners who hold less than 1 percent of U.S. agricultural lands. worth no more than $4 billion. are not exempted. Another unfairness of FIRPTA is that it penalized foreign investors retroactively. It applies to lands acquired before the law was enacted. Most importantly of all. FIRPTA puts the United States at a serious disadvantage with other countries which are promoting and encouraging foreign investment with every attraction they can think of. including giving privileged immigration visas to foreigners who make sizable investments. Every country but our own is trying to attract capital. while we are mindlessly chasing away investors. We in this country need capital.