[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4551 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4551

 To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 
  Policy Act of 1977 to modify the BARD Fund, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 13, 2024

 Mr. Hoeven (for himself and Mrs. Gillibrand) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 
  Policy Act of 1977 to modify the BARD Fund, 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 ``United States-Israel Agriculture 
Cooperation Improvement and Expansion Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural 
        Research and Development Fund (referred to in this section as 
        the ``BARD Fund'')--
                    (A) was established in 1977; and
                    (B) is a competitive funding program that supports 
                collaborative agricultural research in areas of mutual 
                interest to the United States and Israel;
            (2) the primary mission of the BARD Fund is to bring 
        together United States and Israeli scientists to jointly 
        address key agricultural and food production challenges that 
        concern both countries;
            (3) since its establishment, the BARD Fund has approved 
        more than 1,300 research projects, with a total investment of 
        $315,000,000 that has gained $16 for every $1 spent; and
            (4) research funded by the BARD Fund has led to new 
        agricultural practices, commercial engagements, patents, and 
        breeding rights licenses, which serve as a growth engine to the 
        United States and Israeli economies.

SEC. 3. BARD FUND.

    Section 1458(e) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, 
and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3291(e)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``entered into'' and 
        inserting ``as entered into in 1977'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``sector.'' 
                and inserting ``sector in the United States, Israel, 
                signatories of the Abraham Accords Declaration, done at 
                Washington September 15, 2020, Arab States that have 
                normalized relations with Israel, and other interested 
                nations; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) support mid-stage research to advance 
                cooperative agricultural research projects of mutual 
                interest to the United States and Israel.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to the BARD Fund to carry out activities 
        under this subsection $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 
        through 2029.''.

SEC. 4. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible commodity.--The term ``eligible commodity'' 
        means an agricultural commodity (or the product of an 
        agricultural commodity) that--
                    (A) is produced in, and procured from, a developing 
                country; and
                    (B) at a minimum, meets each nutritional, quality, 
                and labeling standard of the country that receives the 
                agricultural commodity, as determined by the Secretary.
            (2) Eligible organization.--The term ``eligible 
        organization'' means an organization that--
                    (A) is a private voluntary organization or 
                cooperative or intergovernmental organization; and
                    (B) partners with an Israeli institution to carry 
                out a field-based project under this section.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
    (b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program to 
provide grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements with, eligible 
organizations to carry out, in partnership with Israeli institutions, 
field-based projects in foreign countries that enable local or regional 
procurement of eligible commodities to respond to food shortages, with 
an emphasis on developing long-term, sustainable, self-sufficient food 
ecosystems.
    (c) Proposals.--
            (1) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant from, 
        or enter into a cooperative agreement with, the Secretary under 
        this section, an eligible organization shall submit to the 
        Secretary an application by such date, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the Secretary may require.
            (2) Selection of projects.--
                    (A) Project diversity.--
                            (i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii) and 
                        subparagraph (B), in selecting proposals for 
                        field-based projects to fund under this 
                        section, the Secretary shall select a diversity 
                        of projects, including--
                                    (I) projects located in food 
                                surplus regions;
                                    (II) projects located in food 
                                deficit regions that are carried out 
                                using regional procurement methods; and
                                    (III) projects located in multiple 
                                geographical regions.
                            (ii) Priority.--In selecting proposals for 
                        field-based projects to fund under this 
                        section, the Secretary shall ensure that the 
                        majority of selected proposals are for field-
                        based projects that--
                                    (I) are located in Africa; and
                                    (II) procure eligible commodities 
                                that are produced in Africa.
                    (B) Development assistance.--A portion of the funds 
                made available to carry out this section shall be made 
                available for field-based projects under this section 
                that provide development assistance for a period of not 
                less than 1 year.
                    (C) Preference.--In selecting proposals for field-
                based projects to fund under this section, the 
                Secretary may give preference to eligible organizations 
                that receive, or are working toward receiving, 
                assistance to carry out projects under the McGovern-
                Dole International Food for Education and Child 
                Nutrition Program established under section 3107 of the 
                Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 
                U.S.C. 1736o-1).
    (d) Procurement.--
            (1) In general.--Any eligible commodity that is procured 
        for a field-based project carried out under this section shall 
        be procured through any approach or methodology that the 
        Secretary considers to be an effective approach or methodology 
        to provide adequate information regarding the manner by which 
        to expedite, to the maximum extent practicable, the provision 
        of food aid to affected populations without significantly 
        increasing commodity costs for low-income consumers who procure 
        commodities sourced from the same markets in which the eligible 
        commodity is procured.
            (2) Requirements.--
                    (A) Impact on local farmers and countries.--The 
                Secretary shall ensure that the local or regional 
                procurement of any eligible commodity under this 
                section will not have a disruptive impact on farmers 
                located in, or the economy of--
                            (i) the recipient country of the eligible 
                        commodity; or
                            (ii) any country in the region in which the 
                        eligible commodity may be procured.
                    (B) Transshipment.--The Secretary shall, in 
                accordance with such terms and conditions as the 
                Secretary considers to be appropriate, require from 
                each eligible organization seeking a grant or 
                cooperative agreement under this section commitments 
                designed to prevent or restrict--
                            (i) the resale or transshipment of any 
                        eligible commodity procured under this section 
                        to any country other than the recipient 
                        country; and
                            (ii) the use of the eligible commodity for 
                        any purpose other than food aid.
                    (C) World prices.--
                            (i) In general.--In carrying out this 
                        section, the Secretary shall take any 
                        precaution that the Secretary considers to be 
                        reasonable to ensure that the procurement of 
                        eligible commodities will not unduly disrupt--
                                    (I) world prices for agricultural 
                                commodities; or
                                    (II) normal patterns of commercial 
                                trade with foreign countries.
                            (ii) Procurement price.--The procurement of 
                        any eligible commodity shall be made at a 
                        reasonable market price with respect to the 
                        economy of the country in which the eligible 
                        commodity is procured, as determined by the 
                        Secretary.
    (e) Nongovernmental Organizations.--An eligible organization 
receiving a grant or entering into a cooperative agreement under this 
section that is a nongovernmental organization shall be subject to 
regulations promulgated or guidelines issued by the Secretary to carry 
out this section, including United States audit requirements that are 
applicable to nongovernmental organizations.
    (f) Reporting.--
            (1) In general.--Each year, the Secretary shall submit to 
        the committees of Congress described in paragraph (2) a report 
        that describes the use of funds under this section, including--
                    (A) the impact of procurements and projects on--
                            (i) local and regional agricultural 
                        producers; and
                            (ii) markets and consumers, including low-
                        income consumers; and
                    (B) implementation time frames and costs.
            (2) Committees of congress described.--The committees of 
        Congress referred to in paragraph (1) are--
                    (A) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
                Forestry of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $10,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
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