I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8238 

To establish the Office of Intelligence in the Department of Agriculture, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 

Mr. CRAWFORD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Office of Intelligence in the Department 

of Agriculture, 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 ‘‘Agricultural Intel5 ligence Measures Act’’ or the ‘‘AIM Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8238 IH

1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE IN 

2 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subtitle A of the Department 

4 of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6901 

5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 225A. OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

8 Department an Office of Intelligence. The Office shall be 

9 under the National Intelligence Program. 

10 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be headed 

12 by the Director of the Office of Intelligence, who 

13 shall be an employee in the Senior Executive Service 

14 and who shall be appointed by the Secretary. The 

15 Director shall report directly to the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Secretary shall se17 lect an individual to serve as the Director from 

18 among individuals who have significant experience 

19 serving in the intelligence community. 

20 ‘‘(3) STAFF.—The Director may appoint and 

21 fix the compensation of such staff as the Director 

22 considers appropriate, except that the Director may 

23 not appoint more than 5 full-time equivalent posi24 tions at an annual rate of pay equal to or greater 

25 than the maximum rate of basic pay for GS–15 of 

26 the General Schedule. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8238 IH

1 ‘‘(4) DETAIL OF PERSONNEL OF INTELLIGENCE

2 COMMUNITY.—Upon the request of the Director, the 

3 head of an element of the intelligence community 

4 may detail any of the personnel of such element to 

5 assist the Office in carrying out its duties. Any per6 sonnel detailed to assist the Office shall not be taken 

7 into account in determining the number of full-time 

8 equivalent positions of the Office under paragraph 

9 (3). 

10 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Office shall carry out the fol11 lowing duties: 

12 ‘‘(1) The Office shall be responsible for leverag13 ing the capabilities of the intelligence community 

14 and National Laboratories intelligence-related re15 search, to ensure that the Secretary is fully informed 

16 of threats by foreign actors to United States agri17 culture. 

18 ‘‘(2) The Office shall focus on understanding 

19 foreign efforts to— 

20 ‘‘(A) steal United States agriculture knowl21 edge and technology; and 

22 ‘‘(B) develop or implement biological war23 fare attacks, cyber or clandestine operations, or 

24 other means of sabotaging and disrupting 

25 United States agriculture. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8238 IH

1 ‘‘(3) The Office shall conduct or facilitate intel2 ligence briefings for the Secretary and appropriate 

3 officials of the Department of Agriculture. 

4 ‘‘(4) The Office shall operate as the liaison be5 tween the Secretary and the intelligence community, 

6 with the authority to request intelligence collection 

7 and analysis on matters related to United States ag8 riculture. 

9 ‘‘(5) The Office shall collaborate with the intel10 ligence community to downgrade intelligence assess11 ments for broader dissemination within the Depart12 ment. 

13 ‘‘(6) The Office shall facilitate sharing informa14 tion on foreign activities related to agriculture, as 

15 acquired by the Department with the intelligence 

16 community. 

17 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 is authorized to be appropriated for the Office $970,000 

19 for fiscal year 2021. 

20 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

21 definitions apply: 

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Director’ means the Director of 

23 the Office of Intelligence appointed under subsection 

24 (b). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8238 IH

1 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘intelligence community’ and 

2 ‘National Intelligence Program’ have the meaning 

3 given such terms in section 3 of the National Secu4 rity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 

5 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Office’ means the Office of In6 telligence of the Department of Agriculture estab7 lished under subsection (a).’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO EX9 ISTING FUNCTIONS AND AUTHORITIES.— 

10 (1) EXISTING FUNCTIONS OF OFFICE OF HOME11 LAND SECURITY OF DEPARTMENT RELATING TO IN12 TELLIGENCE ON THREATS TO FOOD AND AGRI13 CULTURE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 221(d) of such 

15 Act (7 U.S.C. 6922(d)) is amended— 

16 (i) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5); 

17 and 

18 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 

19 through (8) as paragraphs (4) through (6). 

20 (B) TRANSFER OF RELATED PERSONNEL

21 AND ASSETS OF OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECU22 RITY.—The functions which the Office of 

23 Homeland Security of the Department of Agri24 culture exercised under paragraphs (4) and (5) 

25 of section 221(d) of the Department of AgriVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:30 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8238.IH H8238

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8238 IH

1 culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 

2 6922(d)) before the effective date of this para3 graph, together with the funds, assets, and 

4 other resources used by the Director of the Of5 fice of Homeland Security of the Department to 

6 carry out such functions before the effective 

7 date of this paragraph, are transferred to the 

8 Director of the Office of Intelligence of the De9 partment. 

10 (2) CARRYING OUT INTERAGENCY EXCHANGE

11 PROGRAM FOR DEFENSE OF FOOD AND AGRI12 CULTURE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR.— 

13 Section 221(e) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 6922(e)) is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF

17 INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE.—The 

18 Secretary shall carry out this subsection acting 

19 through the Director of the Office of Intelligence of 

20 the Department.’’. 

21 (3) COORDINATING WITH INTELLIGENCE COM22 MUNITY ON POTENTIAL THREATS TO AGRI23 CULTURE.—Section 335(a)(3) of the Public Health 

24 Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Re25 sponse Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 3354(a)(3)) is amendVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:30 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8238.IH H8238

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 8238 IH

1 ed by striking ‘‘strengthen coordination’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘acting through the Director of the Office of In3 telligence in the Department of Agriculture, 

4 strengthen coordination’’. 

5 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection and the 

6 amendments made by this subsection shall take ef7 fect upon the appointment of the Director of the Of8 fice of Intelligence in the Department of Agriculture 

9 under section 225A(b) of the Department of Agri10 culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (as added by 

11 subsection (a)). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS