I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9980 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 

establish an Office of Kosher and Halal Foods, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 11, 2024 

Ms. MENG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization 

Act of 1994 to establish an Office of Kosher and Halal 

Foods, 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. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) There are approximately 7.5 million Jewish 

6 Americans and 3.45 million Muslim Americans. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 9980 IH

1 (2) Thirty-five percent of Jewish Americans 

2 and 83 percent of Muslim Americans follow reli3 giously required dietary restrictions. 

4 (3) Meaningful percentages of Jewish and Mus5 lim American communities are food insecure and 

6 could benefit from Department of Agriculture emer7 gency food programs such as the Emergency Food 

8 Assistance Program (commonly known and referred 

9 to in this section as ‘‘TEFAP’’). 

10 (4) Studies have shown that people in the 

11 United States that follow religiously required diets 

12 will forgo food even if hungry rather than eat food 

13 that is forbidden to them. 

14 (5) Kosher and halal food options in these pro15 grams are therefore essential for individuals adher16 ing to religiously required dietary restrictions. 

17 (6) Estimates suggest that 50 percent of the 

18 food on grocery store shelves in the United States 

19 has at least one kosher certification. 

20 (7) Despite the fact that kosher and halal prod21 ucts are readily available in the commercial market22 place, while the Department of Agriculture has ex23 panded kosher and halal options available through 

24 TEFAP, Department of Agriculture feeding pro25 grams currently do not provide sufficient options to 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 9980 IH

1 fully meet the needs of people in the United States 

2 with religiously required dietary restrictions. For ex3 ample, TEFAP currently only requires 8 certified 

4 kosher products and 1 halal certified product. 

5 (8) Congress has in the past, recognized the 

6 need to increase access to emergency kosher and 

7 halal food in the Nation’s food programs. 

8 (9) Through TEFAP, Congress previously 

9 sought to expand access to kosher and halal food 

10 through Department of Agriculture programs by 

11 mandating that the Secretary ‘‘shall finalize and im12 plement a plan to increase the purchase of Kosher 

13 and Halal food’’. 

14 (10) Nevertheless, the lack of current kosher 

15 and halal food options prevent those with religiously 

16 required diets from fully participating in the Na17 tion’s food programs and are fundamentally unfair 

18 and inequitable. 

19 (11) As part of the United States National 

20 Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, the Department 

21 of Agriculture is committed to work ‘‘to ensure equal 

22 access to all USDA feeding programs for USDA 

23 customers with religious dietary needs. This will in24 clude increasing commercially available kosher and 

25 halal foods that are priorities for Jewish and Muslim 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 9980 IH

1 program participants; expanding the number of ko2 sher or halal certified foods in USDA’s food procure3 ment; training schools on how to meet students’ reli4 gious dietary needs for the National School Lunch 

5 and School Breakfast programs; and expanding out6 reach and technical assistance for kosher and halal 

7 meat processors.’’. 

8 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF KOSHER AND HALAL FOODS. 

9 The Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department 

10 of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6901 

11 note et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 310. OFFICE OF KOSHER AND HALAL FOODS. 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months 

15 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec16 retary shall establish in the Department an Office of Ko17 sher and Halal Foods (referred to in this section as the 

18 ‘Office’). 

19 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary shall appoint a Di20 rector of the Office who shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) be an individual with expertise in feeding 

22 programs carried out by the Secretary, national sup23 ply logistics, and religiously required diets; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 9980 IH

1 ‘‘(2) be responsible for carrying out the mission 

2 and responsibilities of the Office as specified in this 

3 section. 

4 ‘‘(c) MISSION.—The mission of the Office shall be to 

5 provide guidance and expertise to the Secretary necessary 

6 to ensure that people in the United States with religiously 

7 required diets have full, fair, and equal access to all food 

8 programs administered by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Office shall be respon10 sible for engaging in activities to carry out the mission 

11 described in subsection (c), including— 

12 ‘‘(1) advising on the cost-effective procurement 

13 of kosher and halal food for distribution through 

14 programs administered by the Secretary; 

15 ‘‘(2) assisting local and regional food banks and 

16 pantries with the cost-effective procurement of ko17 sher and halal food; 

18 ‘‘(3) advising the Secretary on the establish19 ment of a national kosher and halal emergency food 

20 bank and distribution network; 

21 ‘‘(4) working with industry stakeholders to sup22 port the Department in securing kosher and halal 

23 food across food groups, to allow pantries to provide 

24 balanced pantry bags aligned with the Dietary 

25 Guidelines for Americans established under section 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 9980 IH

1 301 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Re2 lated Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341); 

3 ‘‘(5) advising the Secretary on the needs of stu4 dents with religiously required dietary restrictions in 

5 the covered nutrition programs; 

6 ‘‘(6) advocating for, and supporting funding ini7 tiatives for, increased access to kosher and halal 

8 food options in feeding programs administered by 

9 the Secretary; 

10 ‘‘(7) providing educational resources to pro11 ducers, food banks, schools, food pantries, and other 

12 emergency food providers who contract with the Sec13 retary to distribute food on kosher and halal require14 ments to assist such producers, food banks, schools, 

15 food pantries, and other emergency food providers in 

16 ensuring equal access to their programs for individ17 uals who present with religious required diets; 

18 ‘‘(8) conducting research and collecting data, in 

19 partnership with the Economic Research Service, on 

20 kosher and halal food in the United States and food 

21 insecurity in the Jewish and Muslim American com22 munities; and 

23 ‘‘(9) administering any pilot, grant, or other 

24 programs administered by the Department that are 

25 designed to increase access to kosher and halal food 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 9980 IH

1 under the emergency food assistance program estab2 lished under the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 

3 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.). 

4 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

5 after the date of the enactment of this section, and annu6 ally thereafter, the Office shall submit to Congress a re7 port on the activities to be carried out by the Office and 

8 any relevant data relating to such activities and goals for 

9 the Office for the following year. 

10 ‘‘(f) COVERED NUTRITION PROGRAM DEFINED.—In 

11 this section, the term ‘covered nutrition program’ means— 

12 ‘‘(1) the school lunch program established 

13 under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

15 ‘‘(2) the school breakfast program established 

16 under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 

17 (42 U.S.C. 1773); and 

18 ‘‘(3) the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Pro19 gram established under section 18(g) of the Richard 

20 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 1769(g)). 

22 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.— 

23 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Of the funds of 

24 the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary 

25 shall use to carry out this section $1,600,000 for 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 9980 IH

1 each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029, to remain 

2 available until expended. 

3 ‘‘(2) DISCRETIONARY FUNDING.—There are au4 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $1,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 

6 2029, to remain available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB