[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2694 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2694
To improve connections between the Department of Agriculture and
national and homeland security agencies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 3, 2025
Mr. Padilla (for himself and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
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''.
SEC. 2. 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.
SEC. 3. AGRICULTURE AND NATIONAL SECURITY.
(a) Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for National Security.--
(1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture
(referred to in this section as ``Secretary'') shall--
(A) establish within the Office of the Secretary
the position of Assistant Secretary for National
Security; and
(B) appoint an individual to the position of
Assistant Secretary for National Security.
(2) Authorization.--Section 218(a) of the Department of
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6918(a)) is
amended--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'';
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for National
Security.''.
(3) 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.''.
(b) 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.''.
(c) 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.''.
(d) 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.''.
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