[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 30, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S4946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3176. Mr. PADILLA submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2026 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 F of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1067. AGRICULTURE AND NATIONAL SECURITY.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Agriculture and National Security Act of 2025''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) food and agriculture are critical to the national
security of the United States; and
(2) additional efforts are needed to identify national
security vulnerabilities related to food and agriculture,
particularly with regard to emerging technologies.
(c) Agriculture and National Security.--
(1) Assistant secretary of agriculture for national
security.--
(A) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture
(referred to in this subsection as ``Secretary'') shall--
(i) establish within the Office of the Secretary the
position of Assistant Secretary for National Security; and
(ii) appoint an individual to the position of Assistant
Secretary for National Security.
(B) Authorization.--Section 218(a) of the Department of
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6918(a)) is
amended--
(i) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'';
(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and inserting
``; and''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for National
Security.''.
(C) Duties.--Section 218 of the Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6918) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(d) Duties of Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for
National Security.--The Secretary may delegate to the
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for National Security
responsibility for--
``(1) serving as the principal advisor to the Secretary on
national security;
``(2) acting 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;
``(3) coordinating national security activities across the
Department, including--
``(A) the activities of the Office of Homeland Security
established under section 221;
``(B) the activities of the Intelligence Community
Counterintelligence Office established under section 7318 of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024
(50 U.S.C. 3384);
``(C) the implementation of the Agricultural Foreign
Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
and
``(D) the implementation of section 721 of the Defense
Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565); and
``(4) coordinating with stakeholders to identify national
security vulnerabilities and risk mitigation strategies
relevant to food and agriculture, particularly with regard to
emerging technologies and issues, including biotechnology,
artificial intelligence, drones, cybersecurity, and supply
chain vulnerabilities.''.
(2) 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.''.
(3) 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, including gaps in personnel or access to
cleared systems.''.
(4) Conforming amendment.--Section 296(b) of the Department
of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry out the
amendments made to this title by the Agriculture and National
Security Act of 2025.''.
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