“A bill to improve connections between the Department of Agriculture and national and homeland security agencies, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section expresses the sense of Congress that food and agriculture are critical to U.S. national security and that additional efforts are needed to identify related vulnerabilities, particularly with regard to emerging technologies.
This section requires the Secretary of Agriculture, not later than 180 days after enactment, to establish within the Office of the Secretary the position of Assistant Secretary for National Security and appoint an individual to the position. It amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 as follows: (1) authorizes the position; (2) specifies duties of the Assistant Secretary, including serving as principal advisor to the Secretary on national security, acting as primary liaison with the National Security Council and other federal agencies on national security activities, coordinating such activities across the Department—including the Office of Homeland Security, Intelligence Community Counterintelligence Office established by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), and section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565)—and coordinating with stakeholders to identify national security vulnerabilities and risk mitigation strategies for food and agriculture, particularly regarding emerging technologies and issues such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence, drones, cybersecurity, and supply chains; (3) authorizes the Secretary to detail personnel to and accept detailees from defense, national and homeland security, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies, with or without reimbursement, to the Office of Homeland Security to improve information sharing, vulnerability identification, and risk mitigation related to food and agriculture; and (4) requires biennial reports to Congress and the National Security Council, beginning not later than 180 days after enactment, assessing gaps and limitations in national security efforts related to U.S. food and agriculture (e.g., foreign state-owned enterprise influence, control of agricultural data, foreign acquisition of intellectual property and land, input shortages, supply chain disruptions, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence), actions taken by the Department, policy recommendations (including for executive and legislative actions), and resources required. It also makes a conforming amendment granting the Secretary authority to carry out these amendments.