Citizens Speak Out Against Discriminatory SB147 Bill During Texas Senate Chamber Hearing

A Senate Chamber hearing for the measures SB147 and SB711 was held in Texas on Thursday, March 2. These proposals intended to restrict real estate investment from certain nations included in the Director of National Intelligence’s Annual Threat Assessment. They also proposed modifications to the law governing foreign investments. SB147, which clarified the classifications of real estate and exempted homestead houses from the restrictions, was nevertheless biased towards people from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia notwithstanding the revisions that were presented. SB711 aimed to impose a prohibition on nations that are included in the annual threat assessment.

The committee heard from a sizable number of witnesses, predominantly of Asian or Asian-American descent, who testified before the panel or platform, introducing themselves, expressing their views on the measure, and providing evidence. Of the several dozens of witnesses, the vast majority spoke against SB147 and SB711.

“I’m raising four young Texans, proudly,” one witness said, in an emotional testimony. “SB 147 and SB 711 are also a slight on my children’s faces. They’re proud to be American because they believe in America. No one can treat you differently because of the color of your skin or because of where you were born. Every morning assembly, very loudly and proudly they say ‘with liberty and justice for all.’ But with these two bills, it becomes ‘liberty and justice not for all.’”

James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project, argued that the bills could unfairly impact foreign citizen residents in Texas who have nothing to do with the foreign policy of their home countries. Committee chair Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, announced at the end of the hearing that the committee had left SB147 and SB711 pending without a vote, and the bills’ authors would work on the legislation. While Henson speculated that the bill may move out of the Senate, it is uncertain whether there is the political interest in the House of Representatives and the Governor’s office for the bill to pass.