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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9980 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) There are approximately 7.5 million Jewish Americans 
        and 3.45 million Muslim Americans.
            (2) Thirty-five percent of Jewish Americans and 83 percent 
        of Muslim Americans follow religiously required dietary 
        restrictions.
            (3) Meaningful percentages of Jewish and Muslim American 
        communities are food insecure and could benefit from Department 
        of Agriculture emergency food programs such as the Emergency 
        Food Assistance Program (commonly known and referred to in this 
        section as ``TEFAP'').
            (4) Studies have shown that people in the United States 
        that follow religiously required diets will forgo food even if 
        hungry rather than eat food that is forbidden to them.
            (5) Kosher and halal food options in these programs are 
        therefore essential for individuals adhering to religiously 
        required dietary restrictions.
            (6) Estimates suggest that 50 percent of the food on 
        grocery store shelves in the United States has at least one 
        kosher certification.
            (7) Despite the fact that kosher and halal products are 
        readily available in the commercial marketplace, while the 
        Department of Agriculture has expanded kosher and halal options 
        available through TEFAP, Department of Agriculture feeding 
        programs currently do not provide sufficient options to fully 
        meet the needs of people in the United States with religiously 
        required dietary restrictions. For example, TEFAP currently 
        only requires 8 certified kosher products and 1 halal certified 
        product.
            (8) Congress has in the past, recognized the need to 
        increase access to emergency kosher and halal food in the 
        Nation's food programs.
            (9) Through TEFAP, Congress previously sought to expand 
        access to kosher and halal food through Department of 
        Agriculture programs by mandating that the Secretary ``shall 
        finalize and implement a plan to increase the purchase of 
        Kosher and Halal food''.
            (10) Nevertheless, the lack of current kosher and halal 
        food options prevent those with religiously required diets from 
        fully participating in the Nation's food programs and are 
        fundamentally unfair and inequitable.
            (11) As part of the United States National Strategy to 
        Counter Antisemitism, the Department of Agriculture is 
        committed to work ``to ensure equal access to all USDA feeding 
        programs for USDA customers with religious dietary needs. This 
        will include increasing commercially available kosher and halal 
        foods that are priorities for Jewish and Muslim program 
        participants; expanding the number of kosher or halal certified 
        foods in USDA's food procurement; training schools on how to 
        meet students' religious dietary needs for the National School 
        Lunch and School Breakfast programs; and expanding outreach and 
        technical assistance for kosher and halal meat processors.''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF KOSHER AND HALAL FOODS.

    The Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6901 note et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 310. OFFICE OF KOSHER AND HALAL FOODS.

    ``(a) Establishment.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish in the 
Department an Office of Kosher and Halal Foods (referred to in this 
section as the `Office').
    ``(b) Director.--The Secretary shall appoint a Director of the 
Office who shall--
            ``(1) be an individual with expertise in feeding programs 
        carried out by the Secretary, national supply logistics, and 
        religiously required diets; and
            ``(2) be responsible for carrying out the mission and 
        responsibilities of the Office as specified in this section.
    ``(c) Mission.--The mission of the Office shall be to provide 
guidance and expertise to the Secretary necessary to ensure that people 
in the United States with religiously required diets have full, fair, 
and equal access to all food programs administered by the Secretary.
    ``(d) Responsibilities.--The Office shall be responsible for 
engaging in activities to carry out the mission described in subsection 
(c), including--
            ``(1) advising on the cost-effective procurement of kosher 
        and halal food for distribution through programs administered 
        by the Secretary;
            ``(2) assisting local and regional food banks and pantries 
        with the cost-effective procurement of kosher and halal food;
            ``(3) advising the Secretary on the establishment of a 
        national kosher and halal emergency food bank and distribution 
        network;
            ``(4) working with industry stakeholders to support the 
        Department in securing kosher and halal food across food 
        groups, to allow pantries to provide balanced pantry bags 
        aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans established 
        under section 301 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and 
        Related Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341);
            ``(5) advising the Secretary on the needs of students with 
        religiously required dietary restrictions in the covered 
        nutrition programs;
            ``(6) advocating for, and supporting funding initiatives 
        for, increased access to kosher and halal food options in 
        feeding programs administered by the Secretary;
            ``(7) providing educational resources to producers, food 
        banks, schools, food pantries, and other emergency food 
        providers who contract with the Secretary to distribute food on 
        kosher and halal requirements to assist such producers, food 
        banks, schools, food pantries, and other emergency food 
        providers in ensuring equal access to their programs for 
        individuals who present with religious required diets;
            ``(8) conducting research and collecting data, in 
        partnership with the Economic Research Service, on kosher and 
        halal food in the United States and food insecurity in the 
        Jewish and Muslim American communities; and
            ``(9) administering any pilot, grant, or other programs 
        administered by the Department that are designed to increase 
        access to kosher and halal food under the emergency food 
        assistance program established under the Emergency Food 
        Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.).
    ``(e) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Office 
shall submit to Congress a report on the activities to be carried out 
by the Office and any relevant data relating to such activities and 
goals for the Office for the following year.
    ``(f) Covered Nutrition Program Defined.--In this section, the term 
`covered nutrition program' means--
            ``(1) the school lunch program established under the 
        Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 
        seq.);
            ``(2) the school breakfast program established under 
        section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); 
        and
            ``(3) the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program established 
        under section 18(g) of the Richard B. Russell National School 
        Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769(g)).
    ``(g) Funding.--
            ``(1) Mandatory funding.--Of the funds of the Commodity 
        Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this 
        section $1,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029, 
        to remain available until expended.
            ``(2) Discretionary funding.--There are authorized to be 
        appropriated to carry out this section $1,600,000 for each of 
        fiscal years 2025 through 2029, to remain available until 
        expended.''.
                                 <all>
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