I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4820 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 

provide assistance to manage farmer and rancher stress and for the 

mental health of individuals in rural areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 23, 2019 

Mr. BRINDISI (for himself, Ms. CRAIG, and Mr. KATKO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization 

Act of 1994 to provide assistance to manage farmer 

and rancher stress and for the mental health of individuals in rural areas, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Seeding Rural Resil5 ience Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec8 retary of Agriculture. 


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1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) according to the Centers for Disease Con4 trol and Prevention, the suicide rate is 45 percent 

5 greater in rural areas of the United States than the 

6 suicide rate in urban areas of the United States; 

7 (2) farmers face social isolation, the potential 

8 for financial losses, barriers to seeking mental health 

9 services, and access to lethal means to commit sui10 cide; and 

11 (3) as commodity prices fall and farmers face 

12 uncertainty, reports of farmer suicides are increas13 ing. 

14 SEC. 4. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT CAMPAIGN TO 

15 ADDRESS FARM AND RANCH MENTAL 

16 HEALTH. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

18 with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall 

19 carry out a public service announcement campaign to ad20 dress the mental health of farmers and ranchers. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The public service announce22 ment campaign under subsection (a) shall include tele23 vision, radio, print, outdoor, and digital public service an24 nouncements. 

25 (c) CONTRACTOR.—The Secretary may enter into a 

26 contract or other agreement with a third party to carry 


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1 out the public service announcement campaign under sub2 section (a). 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

5 out this section $3,000,000, to remain available until ex6 pended. 

7 SEC. 5. EMPLOYEE TRAINING PROGRAM TO MANAGE FARM8 ER AND RANCHER STRESS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Department of 

10 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6912 

11 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 224B. EMPLOYEE TRAINING PROGRAM TO MANAGE 

13 FARMER AND RANCHER STRESS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

15 voluntary program to train employees of the Farm Service 

16 Agency, the Risk Management Agency, and the Natural 

17 Resources Conservation Service in the management of 

18 stress experienced by farmers and ranchers, including the 

19 detection of stress and suicide prevention. 

20 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

21 the date on which the Secretary submits a report on the 

22 results of the pilot program being carried out by the Sec23 retary as of the date of enactment of this section to train 

24 employees of the Department in the management of stress 

25 experienced by farmers and ranchers, and based on the 


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1 recommendations contained in that report, the Secretary 

2 shall develop a training program to carry out subsection 

3 (a). 

4 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not less frequently than once every 

5 2 years, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

6 Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Com7 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen8 ate a report describing the implementation of this sec9 tion.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture 

12 Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by redesig13 nating section 225 (7 U.S.C. 6925) as section 224A. 

14 (2) Section 296(b) of the Department of Agri15 culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 

16 7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry 

19 out section 224B.’’. 

20 SEC. 6. TASK FORCE FOR ASSESSMENT OF CAUSES OF MEN21 TAL STRESS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR RE22 SPONSE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall convene a 

24 task force of agricultural and rural stakeholders at the 

25 national, State, and local levels— 


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1 (1) to assess the causes of mental stress in 

2 farmers and ranchers; and 

3 (2) to identify best practices for responding to 

4 that mental stress. 

5 (b) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the task force con7 vened under subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary 

8 a report containing the assessment and best practices 

9 under paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, of subsection 

10 (a). 

11 (c) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out this section, 

12 the task force convened under subsection (a) shall collabo13 rate with nongovernmental organizations and State and 

14 local agencies. 

Æ 


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