[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8522 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8522

   To improve connections between the Department of Agriculture and 
    national and homeland security agencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2024

 Mrs. Bice (for herself and Mr. Khanna) introduced the following bill; 
           which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve connections between the Department of Agriculture and 
    national and homeland security agencies, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Agriculture and National Security 
Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO AGRICULTURE AND NATIONAL 
              SECURITY.

    It is the sense of Congress that there are increasingly robust 
Federal activities to address homeland security vulnerabilities across 
the food and agriculture sector, including with regard to agriculture 
and food defense, critical infrastructure, emergency management, and 
catastrophic events, but additional efforts are needed to identify 
national security vulnerabilities related to food and agriculture, 
particularly with regard to emerging technologies.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL SECURITY.

    (a) In General.--In recognition that food and agriculture are 
critical to the national security of the United States, the Secretary 
of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall 
prioritize national security in addition to homeland security in the 
Department of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the 
``Department''), including by increasing the number of staff at the 
Department with security clearances and access to classified systems 
and networks.
    (b) Senior Advisor for National Security.--
            (1) Appointment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
                    (A) establish within the Office of the Secretary 
                the position of Senior Advisor for National Security 
                (referred to in this Act as the ``Senior Advisor''); 
                and
                    (B) appoint an individual to the position of Senior 
                Advisor.
            (2) Duties.--The Senior Advisor shall, in coordination with 
        and complementary to the duties of the Office of Homeland 
        Security of the Department--
                    (A) serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary 
                on national security;
                    (B) act as the primary liaison on behalf of the 
                Department with the National Security Council and other 
                Federal departments and agencies in activities relating 
                to national security;
                    (C) coordinate national security activities across 
                the Department, including to ensure that national 
                security concerns are integrated into the homeland 
                security activities of the Department wherever 
                appropriate; and
                    (D) communicate with stakeholders to identify 
                national security vulnerabilities and risk mitigation 
                strategies relevant to food and agriculture.
    (c) Interagency Coordination.--Section 221(e) of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6922(e)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Detailees authorized.--The Secretary may provide 
        detailees to, and accept and employ personnel detailed from, 
        defense, national and homeland security, law enforcement, and 
        intelligence agencies, with or without reimbursement, to 
        improve information sharing, vulnerability identification, and 
        risk mitigation related to food and agriculture.''.
    (d) Biennial Reports.--Section 221 of the Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6922) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(f) Biennial Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than once every 2 years 
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress and the National 
Security Council a report that includes--
            ``(1) from the perspective of the Department, an assessment 
        of any gaps or limitations in national security efforts related 
        to food and agriculture in the United States, including--
                    ``(A) influence of foreign state-owned enterprise;
                    ``(B) control of and access to agricultural data;
                    ``(C) foreign acquisition of intellectual property, 
                agricultural assets, and land;
                    ``(D) agricultural input shortages and dependence 
                on foreign-sourced inputs;
                    ``(E) supply chain and trade disruptions;
                    ``(F) science and technology cooperation;
                    ``(G) cybersecurity and artificial intelligence;
                    ``(H) unequal investments in research, development, 
                and scale-up;
                    ``(I) incongruent regulatory policies; and
                    ``(J) other vulnerabilities throughout the food and 
                agriculture sector, particularly with regard to 
                emerging technologies;
            ``(2) the actions taken by the Secretary to address any 
        gaps or limitations identified under paragraph (1), including 
        through interagency coordination, threat information sharing, 
        and stakeholder outreach;
            ``(3) policy recommendations, including recommendations for 
        executive actions and legislative proposals--
                    ``(A) to reduce any gaps or limitations identified 
                under paragraph (1); and
                    ``(B) to address any identified vulnerabilities 
                with respect to the gaps or limitations identified 
                under paragraph (1); and
            ``(4) resources the Department requires to address current 
        and future national security vulnerabilities related to food 
        and agriculture.''.
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