I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8833 

To mend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to direct the Secretary 

of Agriculture to establish and maintain Regional Food and Supply 

Chain Resource Centers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2024 

Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mr. FLOOD) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To mend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to direct 

the Secretary of Agriculture to establish and maintain 

Regional Food and Supply Chain Resource Centers, 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 Food Supply 

5 Chain Resiliency Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REGIONAL FOOD AND SUPPLY CHAIN RESOURCE 

2 CENTERS. 

3 The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 

4 1621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘Subtitle H—Food Supply Chain 

7 Resiliency 

8 ‘‘SEC. 298. REGIONAL FOOD AND SUPPLY CHAIN RESOURCE 

9 CENTERS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

11 the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, 

12 shall enter into competitively awarded cooperative agree13 ments with eligible entities to establish or continue the op14 erations of not fewer than 12 Regional Food and Supply 

15 Chain Regional Resource Centers to support small-sized 

16 and medium-sized producers of agricultural products and 

17 small-sized and medium-sized agricultural businesses 

18 through activities, which may include— 

19 ‘‘(1) offering coordination, technical assistance, 

20 and capacity building support to small-sized and me21 dium-sized producers of agricultural products and 

22 agricultural businesses; 

23 ‘‘(2) supporting supply chain and value chain 

24 coordination— 

25 ‘‘(A) in the region in which such producers 

26 or businesses are located; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) with the Department of Agriculture, 

2 other Federal, State, and Tribal agencies with 

3 relevant resources, regional commissions, and 

4 other Regional Food and Supply Chain Re5 source Centers; 

6 ‘‘(3) providing technical assistance to such pro7 ducers and businesses; 

8 ‘‘(4) providing grants or other financial assist9 ance to such producers and businesses looking to ex10 pand production or a business or start production or 

11 a business in such region; and 

12 ‘‘(5) carrying out such other activities as may 

13 be specified by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(b) FOCUS ON TRIBAL SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES.—At 

15 least one Regional Food and Supply Chain Resource Cen16 ter established pursuant to subsection (a) shall provide co17 ordination, assistance, and capacity building support to 

18 address supply chain issues faced by Indian tribes and 

19 Tribal organizations (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 

20 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

21 U.S.C. 5304)). 

22 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity (includ24 ing an entity representing a partnership) seeking to 

25 enter into a cooperative agreement under this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8833.IH H8833

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1 tion shall submit to the Secretary an application, at 

2 such time, in such manner, and containing such in3 formation as the Secretary may require, including 

4 how the Regional Food and Supply Chain Resource 

5 Centers established by such entity will address food 

6 and agricultural supply chain issues faced by under7 served communities. 

8 ‘‘(2) REGIONAL DIVERSITY.—In selecting eligi9 ble entities to enter into a cooperative agreement 

10 under this section, the Secretary shall ensure the re11 gional diversity of such entities. 

12 ‘‘(d) TERM.—The term of a cooperative agreement 

13 entered into under this section shall be not less than 4 

14 years. 

15 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—A Regional Food and Supply 

16 Chain Resource Center shall, as a condition on entering 

17 into a cooperative agreement under this section, agree to 

18 coordinate with other Regional Food and Supply Chain 

19 Resource Centers, when appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Beginning not later 

21 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Amer22 ican Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act of 2023, and every 

23 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Com24 mittee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and 


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1 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 

2 the Senate a report on— 

3 ‘‘(1) with respect to the activities carried out by 

4 the Secretary under this section— 

5 ‘‘(A) a description of such activities; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the impact of such activities on sup7 ply chain issues faced by small-sized and me8 dium-sized producers of agricultural products; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(2) with respect to the activities carried out by 

11 the Regional Food and Supply Chain Resource Cen12 ters under this section— 

13 ‘‘(A) a description of such activities; 

14 ‘‘(B) the impact of such activities on sup15 ply chain issues faced by small-sized and me16 dium-sized producers of agricultural products 

17 and agricultural businesses; and 

18 ‘‘(C) any grants awarded by Regional Food 

19 and Supply Chain Resource Centers to such 

20 producers and businesses. 

21 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en23 tity’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) a producer network or association; 

25 ‘‘(B) a food council; 


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•HR 8833 IH

1 ‘‘(C) a federally recognized Indian Tribe 

2 (as determined pursuant to section 104 of the 

3 Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

4 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131)); 

5 ‘‘(D) a State government or regional au6 thority; 

7 ‘‘(E) an institution of higher education (as 

8 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); 

10 ‘‘(F) a nonprofit organization; 

11 ‘‘(G) an economic development corporation; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(H) such other entities the Secretary de14 termines appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(2) STATE.—The term ‘State’ has the mean16 ing given such term in section 1404 of the National 

17 Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Pol18 icy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103).’’. 

19 SEC. 3. AGRICULTURE INNOVATION CENTERS PROGRAM. 

20 Section 6402(a) of the Farm Security and Rural In21 vestment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 1632b(a)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

23 end; 

24 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

25 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(4) research, technical assistance, support 

3 services, outreach, and other services to strengthen, 

4 maintain, and secure supply chains related to agri5 cultural inputs and agricultural products produced 

6 in the United States.’’. 

Æ 


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