I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8447 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish centers of excellence for 

agricultural security research, extension, and education, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2024 

Mr. BACON (for himself, Mr. NUNN of Iowa, and Mr. CARBAJAL) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish centers 

of excellence for agricultural security research, extension, 

and education, 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 ‘‘American Agricultural 

5 Security Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

7 (a) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.—The Secretary of 

8 Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

9 shall establish at least 1 center of excellence for the purVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:26 Jun 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8447.IH H8447

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1 pose of carrying out research, extension, and education ac2 tivities for each of the areas of focus described in sub3 section (c). 

4 (b) HOST INSTITUTIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Institutions eligible to host 

6 or co-host a center of excellence established under 

7 this section include— 

8 (A) an 1862 Institution, as defined in sec9 tion 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, 

10 and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 

11 7601); 

12 (B) an 1890 Institution, as defined in such 

13 section 2; 

14 (C) a 1994 Institution, as defined in such 

15 section 2; 

16 (D) a non-land-grant college of agriculture, 

17 as defined in section 1404 of the National Agri18 cultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 

19 Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103); 

20 (E) a Hispanic-serving agricultural college 

21 or university, as defined in such section 1404; 

22 and 

23 (F) an accredited school of veterinary med24 icine. 


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1 (2) DISTRIBUTION.—To the maximum extent 

2 practicable, the Secretary shall ensure the geo3 graphic diversity of institutions selected to host or 

4 co-host a center of excellence established under this 

5 section. 

6 (3) LIMITATION.—An institution selected to 

7 host or co-host a center of excellence under this sec8 tion may host or co-host only one such center of ex9 cellence at a time. 

10 (4) DUTIES.—An institution or institutions se11 lected to host or co-host a center of excellence estab12 lished under this section shall partner with the Agri13 cultural Research Service, other Federal agencies, 

14 State Governments, other institutions of higher edu15 cation (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Edu16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), agricultural 

17 industry groups, or other relevant entities to— 

18 (A) reduce duplicative efforts and focus on 

19 filling gaps across research, extension, and edu20 cation activities by enhancing coordination and 

21 improving cost-effectiveness; 

22 (B) leverage available resources by using 

23 public-private partnerships; 

24 (C) implement training and educational 

25 initiatives to increase awareness and effectively 


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1 disseminate solutions to target audiences 

2 through extension activities; 

3 (D) increase the economic returns to rural 

4 communities by identifying, attracting, and di5 recting funds to high-priority agricultural 

6 issues; 

7 (E) rapidly respond to emerging issues 

8 that threaten any sector of the United States 

9 agricultural industry; 

10 (F) focus on workforce development for 

11 employers to recruit and retain high quality em12 ployees in rural areas; and 

13 (G) engage in assistance for administrative 

14 management and education regarding poten15 tially valuable intellectual property derived from 

16 federally-supported research, extension, and 

17 education activities. 

18 (c) AREAS OF FOCUS.—The areas of focus described 

19 in this subsection are each of the following: 

20 (1) BIOSECURITY AND CYBERSECURITY.—Re21 search, extension, and education activities focused on 

22 agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity efforts to 

23 defend the United States food supply from any at24 tacks. 


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1 (2) BIOSYSTEMS AND AGRICULTURAL ENGI2 NEERING.—Research, extension, and education ac3 tivities focused on biosystems and agricultural engi4 neering, including precision agriculture technologies 

5 and mechanization and automation technologies for 

6 specialty crops. 

7 (3) DIGITAL AGRICULTURE.—Research, exten8 sion, and education activities focused on developing, 

9 evaluating, and deploying digital agriculture, includ10 ing artificial intelligence. 

11 (4) FOREIGN ANIMAL DISEASE.—Research, ex12 tension, and education activities focused on foreign 

13 animal diseases, including the ecology and etiology 

14 of emerging diseases, control methods, and imple15 mentation strategies to enhance preparedness and 

16 response efforts to protect the livestock and poultry 

17 industry. 

18 (d) TERMS.— 

19 (1) DURATION.—The term of an award under 

20 this section shall be for a 5-year period, and may be 

21 renewed for not more than one additional 5-year pe22 riod. 

23 (2) CONSTRUCTION PROHIBITED.—Funds made 

24 available under this section shall not be used for the 

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1 quisition of, expansion, remodeling, or alteration of 

2 an existing building or facility (including site grad3 ing and improvement, and architect fees). 

4 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this section, and every year 

6 thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the 

7 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 

8 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For9 estry of the Senate a report describing— 

10 (1) the projects initiated by each center of ex11 cellence established under this section in the pre12 ceding year; 

13 (2) the amount of funding for each such project 

14 and the funding source; 

15 (3) the institutions participating in each such 

16 project and their shares of the overall funding for 

17 each project; 

18 (4) the level of cost-sharing for each such 

19 project; 

20 (5) technology transfer and intellectual property 

21 management actions undertaken by each such cen22 ter, such as the number of relevant invention disclo23 sures, provisional patents filed, non-provisional pat24 ents filed and issued, number of licenses executed, 

25 and start-up companies registered; and 


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1 (6) any additional information the Secretary de2 termines to be necessary. 

3 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 

6 SEC. 3. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROTECTION GRANT 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

9 program under which the Secretary will award grants on 

10 a competitive basis to eligible entities to support research, 

11 extension, and education activities that improve the capa12 bility of the United States to protect the food and agricul13 tural system from any chemical, biological, cybersecurity, 

14 or bioterrorism attack. 

15 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

16 a grant under this section shall use funds received through 

17 the grant— 

18 (1) to encourage basic and applied research on, 

19 and the development of, qualified agricultural coun20 termeasures; 

21 (2) to promote the development and expansion 

22 of teaching programs in agriculture, veterinary med23 icine, and other disciplines closely allied to the food 

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1 crease the number of trained individuals with an ex2 pertise in agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity; 

3 (3) to expand or upgrade facilities to meet bio4 safety and biosecurity requirements necessary to 

5 protect facility staff, members of the public, and the 

6 food supply while carrying out agricultural biosecu7 rity research; 

8 (4) to cover costs associated with the acquisi9 tion of equipment and other capital costs related to 

10 expansion of food, agriculture, and veterinary medi11 cine teaching programs in agricultural biosecurity 

12 and cybersecurity; or 

13 (5) otherwise improve the capacity of the 

14 United States to respond in a timely manner to 

15 emerging or existing threats. 

16 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to re17 ceive a grant under this section is— 

18 (1) a State agricultural experiment station; 

19 (2) a State departments of agriculture; 

20 (3) a college or university; 

21 (4) a university research foundation; 

22 (5) a research institution or organization; 

23 (6) a Federal agency; 

24 (7) a national laboratory; or 


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1 (8) any group consisting of 2 or more of the en2 tities described in paragraphs (1) through (7). 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 

Æ 


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