II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1673 

To establish the Office of Agriculture Inspection within the Department 

of Homeland Security, which shall be headed by the Assistant Commissioner for Agriculture Inspection, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2011 

Mr. AKAKA (for himself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the Office of Agriculture Inspection within the 

Department of Homeland Security, which shall be headed 

by the Assistant Commissioner for Agriculture Inspection, 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 ‘‘Safeguarding Amer5 ican Agriculture Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF AGRICULTURE 

2 INSPECTION. 

3 Title IV of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

4 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

5 421 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 421a. OFFICE OF AGRICULTURE INSPECTION. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

8 U.S. Customs and Border Protection an Office of Agri9 culture Inspection, which shall be headed by an Assistant 

10 Commissioner. 

11 ‘‘(b) AGRICULTURE SPECIALIST CAREER TRACK.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

13 through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 

14 Border Protection, and in consultation with the As15 sistant Commissioner for Agriculture Inspection— 

16 ‘‘(A) shall identify appropriate career 

17 paths for customs and border protection agri18 culture specialists, including the education, 

19 training, experience, and assignments necessary 

20 for career progression within U.S. Customs and 

21 Border Protection; 

22 ‘‘(B) shall publish information on the ca23 reer paths identified under paragraph (1); and 

24 ‘‘(C) may establish criteria by which ap25 propriately qualified customs and border protecVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:26 Oct 07, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1673.IS S1673

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1 tion technicians may be promoted to customs 

2 and border protection agriculture specialists. 

3 ‘‘(c) EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE.— 

4 The Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of U.S. 

5 Customs and Border Protection, and in consultation with 

6 the Assistant Commissioner for Agriculture Inspection, 

7 shall provide customs and border protection agriculture 

8 specialists the opportunity to acquire the education, train9 ing, and experience necessary to qualify for promotion 

10 within U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

11 ‘‘(d) AGRICULTURE SPECIALIST RECRUITMENT AND

12 RETENTION.—Not later than 270 days after the date of 

13 the enactment of the Safeguarding American Agriculture 

14 Act of 2011, the Secretary, acting through the Commis15 sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and in con16 sultation with the Assistant Commissioner for Agriculture 

17 Inspection, shall develop a plan to more effectively recruit 

18 and retain qualified customs and border protection agri19 culture specialists. The plan shall include— 

20 ‘‘(1) numerical goals for recruitment and reten21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(2) the use of recruitment incentives, as ap23 propriate and permissible under existing laws and 

24 regulations. 


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1 ‘‘(e) EQUIPMENT SUPPORT.—Not later than 270 

2 days after the date of the enactment of the Safeguarding 

3 American Agriculture Act of 2011, the Commissioner of 

4 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in consultation with 

5 the Assistant Commissioner for Agriculture Inspection, 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) determine the minimum equipment and 

8 other resources that are necessary at U.S. Customs 

9 and Border Protection agriculture inspection sta10 tions and facilities to enable customs and border 

11 protection agriculture specialists to fully and effec12 tively carry out their mission; 

13 ‘‘(2) complete an inventory of the equipment 

14 and other resources available at each U.S. Customs 

15 and Border Protection agriculture inspection station 

16 and facility; 

17 ‘‘(3) identify the necessary equipment and other 

18 resources that are not currently available at agri19 culture inspection stations and facilities; and 

20 ‘‘(4) develop a plan to address any resource de21 ficiencies identified under paragraph (3). 

22 ‘‘(f) INTERAGENCY ROTATION PROGRAM.—The Sec23 retary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Agri24 culture are authorized to enter into an agreement that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) establishes an interagency rotation pro2 gram; and 

3 ‘‘(2) provides for personnel of the Animal and 

4 Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department 

5 of Agriculture to take rotational assignments within 

6 the Office of Agriculture Inspection and vice versa 

7 for the purposes of strengthening working relation8 ships between agencies and promoting interagency 

9 experience.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. REPORT. 

11 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Com13 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and in 

14 consultation with the Assistant Commissioner for Agri15 culture Inspection, shall submit a report to the Committee 

16 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

17 Senate and that Committee on Homeland Security of the 

18 House of Representatives that describes— 

19 (1) the status of the implementation of the ac20 tion plans developed by the Animal and Plant 

21 Health Inspection Service-U.S. Customs and Border 

22 Protection Joint Task Force on Improved Agri23 culture Inspection; 

24 (2) the findings of the Commissioner under 

25 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 421a(e) of 


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1 the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by 

2 section 2; and 

3 (3) the plan described in paragraph (4) of such 

4 section 421a(e). 

5 (4) the implementation of the remaining re6 quirements under such section 421a; and 

7 (5) any additional legal authority that the Sec8 retary determines to be necessary to effectively carry 

9 out the agriculture inspection mission of the Depart10 ment of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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