[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2555. Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Young) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4638, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2025 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle H of title X, insert the following:

     SEC. 1095. AGRICULTURE AND NATIONAL SECURITY.

       (a) 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.
       (b) National Security.--
       (1) 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 section as 
     the ``Secretary'') shall prioritize national security in 
     addition to homeland security in the Department of 
     Agriculture (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Department''), including by increasing the number of staff 
     at the Department with security clearances and access to 
     classified systems and networks.
       (2) Senior advisor for national security.--
       (A) Appointment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
       (i) establish within the Office of the Secretary the 
     position of Senior Advisor for National Security (referred to 
     in this section as the ``Senior Advisor''); and
       (ii) appoint an individual to the position of Senior 
     Advisor.
       (B) Duties.--The Senior Advisor shall, in coordination with 
     and complementary to the duties of the Office of Homeland 
     Security of the Department--
       (i) serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary on 
     national security;
       (ii) 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;
       (iii) 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
       (iv) communicate with stakeholders to identify national 
     security vulnerabilities and risk mitigation strategies 
     relevant to food and agriculture.
       (3) 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.''.
       (4) 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 subsection, 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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