II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2706 

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

Act of 1977 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements relating to drought prevention, preparedness, response, 

and mitigation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. BENNET) 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 require the Secretary 

of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements relating to drought prevention, preparedness, response, and 

mitigation, 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. POLICY RESEARCH CENTER ON DROUGHT PRE4 VENTION, PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND 

5 MITIGATION. 

6 Subtitle C of the National Agricultural Research, Ex7 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3151 


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1 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 1419D the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 1419E. POLICY RESEARCH CENTER ON DROUGHT 

4 PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, 

5 AND MITIGATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with this section, the 

7 Secretary shall enter into multiyear cooperative agree8 ments of up to 5 years each with a policy research center 

9 described in subsection (b) to conduct research and edu10 cation programs that— 

11 ‘‘(1) are objective, operationally independent, 

12 and external to the Federal Government; 

13 ‘‘(2) concern the effect of public policies and 

14 trade agreements on— 

15 ‘‘(A) the farm and agricultural sectors (in16 cluding commodities, livestock, dairy, and spe17 cialty crops); 

18 ‘‘(B) the environment; 

19 ‘‘(C) rural families, households, and econo20 mies; and 

21 ‘‘(D) consumers, food, and nutrition; and 

22 ‘‘(3) focus on matters relating to drought pre23 vention, preparedness, response, and mitigation. 

24 ‘‘(b) POLICY RESEARCH CENTER DESCRIBED.—A 

25 policy research center referred to in subsection (a) that 


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1 is eligible to apply for funding under that subsection is 

2 a State agricultural experiment station, college or univer3 sity, or other public research institution or organization 

4 that has a history of providing objective, scientific infor5 mation to Federal agencies and the public to support and 

6 enhance efficient, accurate implementation of Federal 

7 drought preparedness and drought response programs, in8 cluding interagency thresholds used to determine eligi9 bility for mitigation or emergency assistance. 

10 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCE.—In making awards under this 

11 section, the Secretary shall give a preference to policy re12 search centers that have information, analysis, and re13 search relating to drought mitigation. 

14 ‘‘(d) ACTIVITIES.—Funding may be provided under 

15 this section for disciplinary and interdisciplinary research 

16 and education concerning policy research activities con17 sistent with this section, including activities that— 

18 ‘‘(1) support weekly production of and enhance19 ments to the United States Drought Monitor; 

20 ‘‘(2) support other products and services to help 

21 better prepare and respond to drought, including— 

22 ‘‘(A) work carried out in collaboration with 

23 the Department of Agriculture; 

24 ‘‘(B) through the expansion of drought re25 silience and monitoring tools that span across 


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1 disciplines from climatology and remote sensing 

2 to planning and geospatial analysis; and 

3 ‘‘(C) communications products and serv4 ices; or 

5 ‘‘(3) support climate and drought resilience and 

6 profitability on working agriculture lands, targeting 

7 marginal lands and Tribal regions in the western 

8 United States, including efforts to provide tools to 

9 address water quantity. 

10 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

12 $19,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 

13 2028, to remain available until September 30, 2028.’’. 

Æ 


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