II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4420 

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 

MAY 23, 2024 

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. 

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 ‘‘Agriculture and Na5 tional Security Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO AGRICULTURE 

7 AND NATIONAL SECURITY. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that there are increasingly 

9 robust Federal activities to address homeland security 


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1 vulnerabilities across the food and agriculture sector, in2 cluding with regard to agriculture and food defense, crit3 ical infrastructure, emergency management, and cata4 strophic events, but additional efforts are needed to iden5 tify national security vulnerabilities related to food and ag6 riculture, particularly with regard to emerging tech7 nologies. 

8 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SECURITY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In recognition that food and agri10 culture are critical to the national security of the United 

11 States, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this 

12 Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall prioritize national security 

13 in addition to homeland security in the Department of Ag14 riculture (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Department’’), 

15 including by increasing the number of staff at the Depart16 ment with security clearances and access to classified sys17 tems and networks. 

18 (b) SENIOR ADVISOR FOR NATIONAL SECURITY.— 

19 (1) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary shall— 

22 (A) establish within the Office of the Sec23 retary the position of Senior Advisor for Na24 tional Security (referred to in this Act as the 

25 ‘‘Senior Advisor’’); and 


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1 (B) appoint an individual to the position of 

2 Senior Advisor. 

3 (2) DUTIES.—The Senior Advisor shall, in co4 ordination with and complementary to the duties of 

5 the Office of Homeland Security of the Depart6 ment— 

7 (A) serve as the principal advisor to the 

8 Secretary on national security; 

9 (B) act as the primary liaison on behalf of 

10 the Department with the National Security 

11 Council and other Federal departments and 

12 agencies in activities relating to national secu13 rity; 

14 (C) coordinate national security activities 

15 across the Department, including to ensure that 

16 national security concerns are integrated into 

17 the homeland security activities of the Depart18 ment wherever appropriate; and 

19 (D) communicate with stakeholders to 

20 identify national security vulnerabilities and 

21 risk mitigation strategies relevant to food and 

22 agriculture. 

23 (c) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—Section 221(e) 

24 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 


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1 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6922(e)) is amended by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) DETAILEES AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 

4 may provide detailees to, and accept and employ per5 sonnel detailed from, defense, national and homeland 

6 security, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies, 

7 with or without reimbursement, to improve informa8 tion sharing, vulnerability identification, and risk 

9 mitigation related to food and agriculture.’’. 

10 (d) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—Section 221 of the Depart11 ment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 

12 6922) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(f) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre15 quently than once every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary 

16 shall submit to Congress and the National Security Coun17 cil a report that includes— 

18 ‘‘(1) from the perspective of the Department, 

19 an assessment of any gaps or limitations in national 

20 security efforts related to food and agriculture in the 

21 United States, including— 

22 ‘‘(A) influence of foreign state-owned en23 terprise; 

24 ‘‘(B) control of and access to agricultural 

25 data; 


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1 ‘‘(C) foreign acquisition of intellectual 

2 property, agricultural assets, and land; 

3 ‘‘(D) agricultural input shortages and de4 pendence on foreign-sourced inputs; 

5 ‘‘(E) supply chain and trade disruptions; 

6 ‘‘(F) science and technology cooperation; 

7 ‘‘(G) cybersecurity and artificial intel8 ligence; 

9 ‘‘(H) unequal investments in research, de10 velopment, and scale-up; 

11 ‘‘(I) incongruent regulatory policies; and 

12 ‘‘(J) other vulnerabilities throughout the 

13 food and agriculture sector, particularly with 

14 regard to emerging technologies; 

15 ‘‘(2) the actions taken by the Secretary to ad16 dress any gaps or limitations identified under para17 graph (1), including through interagency coordina18 tion, threat information sharing, and stakeholder 

19 outreach; 

20 ‘‘(3) policy recommendations, including rec21 ommendations for executive actions and legislative 

22 proposals— 

23 ‘‘(A) to reduce any gaps or limitations 

24 identified under paragraph (1); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to address any identified 

2 vulnerabilities with respect to the gaps or limi3 tations identified under paragraph (1); and 

4 ‘‘(4) resources the Department requires to ad5 dress current and future national security 

6 vulnerabilities related to food and agriculture.’’. 

Æ 


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