II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4551 

To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy 

Act of 1977 to modify the BARD Fund, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2024 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, 

and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to modify the BARD 

Fund, 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 ‘‘United States-Israel 

5 Agriculture Cooperation Improvement and Expansion 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the United States-Israel Binational Agricul2 tural Research and Development Fund (referred to 

3 in this section as the ‘‘BARD Fund’’)— 

4 (A) was established in 1977; and 

5 (B) is a competitive funding program that 

6 supports collaborative agricultural research in 

7 areas of mutual interest to the United States 

8 and Israel; 

9 (2) the primary mission of the BARD Fund is 

10 to bring together United States and Israeli scientists 

11 to jointly address key agricultural and food produc12 tion challenges that concern both countries; 

13 (3) since its establishment, the BARD Fund 

14 has approved more than 1,300 research projects, 

15 with a total investment of $315,000,000 that has 

16 gained $16 for every $1 spent; and 

17 (4) research funded by the BARD Fund has led 

18 to new agricultural practices, commercial engage19 ments, patents, and breeding rights licenses, which 

20 serve as a growth engine to the United States and 

21 Israeli economies. 

22 SEC. 3. BARD FUND. 

23 Section 1458(e) of the National Agricultural Re24 search, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 

25 U.S.C. 3291(e)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘entered into’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘as entered into in 1977’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

5 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

6 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘sec7 tor.’’ and inserting ‘‘sector in the United 

8 States, Israel, signatories of the Abraham Ac9 cords Declaration, done at Washington Sep10 tember 15, 2020, Arab States that have nor11 malized relations with Israel, and other inter12 ested nations; and’’; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(C) support mid-stage research to ad15 vance cooperative agricultural research projects 

16 of mutual interest to the United States and 

17 Israel.’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated to the BARD 

21 Fund to carry out activities under this subsection 

22 $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 

23 2029.’’. 

24 SEC. 4. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 

25 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE COMMODITY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 commodity’’ means an agricultural commodity (or 

3 the product of an agricultural commodity) that— 

4 (A) is produced in, and procured from, a 

5 developing country; and 

6 (B) at a minimum, meets each nutritional, 

7 quality, and labeling standard of the country 

8 that receives the agricultural commodity, as de9 termined by the Secretary. 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘eligi11 ble organization’’ means an organization that— 

12 (A) is a private voluntary organization or 

13 cooperative or intergovernmental organization; 

14 and 

15 (B) partners with an Israeli institution to 

16 carry out a field-based project under this sec17 tion. 

18 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

20 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 a program to provide grants to, or enter into cooperative 

22 agreements with, eligible organizations to carry out, in 

23 partnership with Israeli institutions, field-based projects 

24 in foreign countries that enable local or regional procure25 ment of eligible commodities to respond to food shortages, 


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1 with an emphasis on developing long-term, sustainable, 

2 self-sufficient food ecosystems. 

3 (c) PROPOSALS.— 

4 (1) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

5 grant from, or enter into a cooperative agreement 

6 with, the Secretary under this section, an eligible or7 ganization shall submit to the Secretary an applica8 tion by such date, in such manner, and containing 

9 such information as the Secretary may require. 

10 (2) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.— 

11 (A) PROJECT DIVERSITY.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

13 (ii) and subparagraph (B), in selecting 

14 proposals for field-based projects to fund 

15 under this section, the Secretary shall se16 lect a diversity of projects, including— 

17 (I) projects located in food sur18 plus regions; 

19 (II) projects located in food def20 icit regions that are carried out using 

21 regional procurement methods; and 

22 (III) projects located in multiple 

23 geographical regions. 

24 (ii) PRIORITY.—In selecting proposals 

25 for field-based projects to fund under this 


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1 section, the Secretary shall ensure that the 

2 majority of selected proposals are for field3 based projects that— 

4 (I) are located in Africa; and 

5 (II) procure eligible commodities 

6 that are produced in Africa. 

7 (B) DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE.—A por8 tion of the funds made available to carry out 

9 this section shall be made available for field10 based projects under this section that provide 

11 development assistance for a period of not less 

12 than 1 year. 

13 (C) PREFERENCE.—In selecting proposals 

14 for field-based projects to fund under this sec15 tion, the Secretary may give preference to eligi16 ble organizations that receive, or are working 

17 toward receiving, assistance to carry out 

18 projects under the McGovern-Dole International 

19 Food for Education and Child Nutrition Pro20 gram established under section 3107 of the 

21 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 

22 2002 (7 U.S.C. 1736o–1). 

23 (d) PROCUREMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any eligible commodity that 

25 is procured for a field-based project carried out 


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1 under this section shall be procured through any ap2 proach or methodology that the Secretary considers 

3 to be an effective approach or methodology to pro4 vide adequate information regarding the manner by 

5 which to expedite, to the maximum extent prac6 ticable, the provision of food aid to affected popu7 lations without significantly increasing commodity 

8 costs for low-income consumers who procure com9 modities sourced from the same markets in which 

10 the eligible commodity is procured. 

11 (2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (A) IMPACT ON LOCAL FARMERS AND

13 COUNTRIES.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

14 the local or regional procurement of any eligible 

15 commodity under this section will not have a 

16 disruptive impact on farmers located in, or the 

17 economy of— 

18 (i) the recipient country of the eligible 

19 commodity; or 

20 (ii) any country in the region in which 

21 the eligible commodity may be procured. 

22 (B) TRANSSHIPMENT.—The Secretary 

23 shall, in accordance with such terms and condi24 tions as the Secretary considers to be appro25 priate, require from each eligible organization 


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1 seeking a grant or cooperative agreement under 

2 this section commitments designed to prevent 

3 or restrict— 

4 (i) the resale or transshipment of any 

5 eligible commodity procured under this sec6 tion to any country other than the recipi7 ent country; and 

8 (ii) the use of the eligible commodity 

9 for any purpose other than food aid. 

10 (C) WORLD PRICES.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this 

12 section, the Secretary shall take any pre13 caution that the Secretary considers to be 

14 reasonable to ensure that the procurement 

15 of eligible commodities will not unduly dis16 rupt— 

17 (I) world prices for agricultural 

18 commodities; or 

19 (II) normal patterns of commer20 cial trade with foreign countries. 

21 (ii) PROCUREMENT PRICE.—The pro22 curement of any eligible commodity shall 

23 be made at a reasonable market price with 

24 respect to the economy of the country in 


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1 which the eligible commodity is procured, 

2 as determined by the Secretary. 

3 (e) NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS.—An eligi4 ble organization receiving a grant or entering into a coop5 erative agreement under this section that is a nongovern6 mental organization shall be subject to regulations pro7 mulgated or guidelines issued by the Secretary to carry 

8 out this section, including United States audit require9 ments that are applicable to nongovernmental organiza10 tions. 

11 (f) REPORTING.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Secretary 

13 shall submit to the committees of Congress described 

14 in paragraph (2) a report that describes the use of 

15 funds under this section, including— 

16 (A) the impact of procurements and 

17 projects on— 

18 (i) local and regional agricultural pro19 ducers; and 

20 (ii) markets and consumers, including 

21 low-income consumers; and 

22 (B) implementation time frames and costs. 

23 (2) COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DESCRIBED.— 

24 The committees of Congress referred to in para25 graph (1) are— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri2 tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 

3 (B) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

4 House of Representatives; and 

5 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

6 the House of Representatives. 

7 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

9 out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

10 through 2029. 

Æ 


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