Urgent Call to Action Update: SB 17 Shaheen Amendment Must Be Removed
May 21, 2025 | Media Inquiries: press@mctxgop.org
The Republican Party of Texas Legislative Priorities Committee voted unanimously to support Senate Bill 17 as passed by the Texas House on May 9, 2025 except for amendment number four (the Shaheen amendment) that the amendment author was for, until he was against, and is now for again. We ask the conferees and the Texas House and Texas Senate to remove the Shaheen amendment in its entirety and finally pass the May 9, 2025 version of the bill.
Here’s what you can do to help TODAY:
Contact the Senate and House conferee chairs by phone and email. Request that they remove the harmful “Shaheen Amendment” from SB 17 and leave the rest of the bill intact. (Contact information below.)
📣 Contact the House Conferees:
Chair Cole Hefner
(512) 463-0271
cole.hefner@house.texas.gov
📣 Contact the Senate Conferees:
Senator Lois Kolkhorst (Chair)
(512) 463-0118
lois.kolkhorst@senate.texas.gov
Here’s what the Shaheen amendment does:
➡️ Allows adversarial nations such as China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia and other hostile foreign actors to enter the U.S. on tourist visas and buy Texas land.
➡️ Creates a loophole for companies controlled by adversarial nations, such as CCP-backed shell companies, to buy land, as long as one American holds shares.
Please protect Texas. Strip the Shaheen Amendment from SB 17.