I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1536 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Ms. HAHN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 

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 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 Commerce and Agriculture Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF AGRICUL2 TURAL 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 AGRICULTURAL 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 The Secretary— 

13 ‘‘(1) shall identify appropriate career paths for 

14 customs and border protection agriculture special15 ists, including the education, training, experience, 

16 and assignments necessary for career progression 

17 within U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 

18 ‘‘(2) shall publish information on the career 

19 paths identified under paragraph (1); and 

20 ‘‘(3) may establish criteria by which appro21 priately qualified customs and border protection 

22 technicians may be promoted to customs and border 

23 protection agriculture specialists. 

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

25 The Secretary shall provide customs and border protection 

26 agriculture specialists the opportunity to acquire the eduVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:16 Apr 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1536.IH H1536

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1 cation, training, and experience necessary to qualify for 

2 promotion within U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

3 ‘‘(d) AGRICULTURE SPECIALIST RECRUITMENT AND

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

5 the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall develop 

6 a plan to more effectively recruit and retain qualified cus7 toms and border protection agriculture specialists. The 

8 plan shall include— 

9 ‘‘(1) numerical goals for recruitment and reten10 tion; and 

11 ‘‘(2) the use of recruitment incentives, as ap12 propriate and permissible under existing laws and 

13 regulations. 

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

15 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

16 Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) determine the minimum equipment and 

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

19 and Border Protection agriculture inspection sta20 tions and facilities to enable customs and border 

21 protection agriculture specialists to fully and effec22 tively carry out their mission; 

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

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


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1 and Border Protection agriculture inspection station 

2 and facility; 

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

4 resources that are not currently available at agri5 culture inspection stations and facilities; and 

6 ‘‘(4) develop a plan to address any resource de7 ficiencies identified under paragraph (3). 

8 ‘‘(f) INTERAGENCY ROTATION PROGRAM.—The Sec9 retary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Agri10 culture are authorized to enter into an agreement that— 

11 ‘‘(1) establishes an interagency rotation pro12 gram; and 

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

14 Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department 

15 of Agriculture to take rotational assignments within 

16 U.S. Customs and Border Protection and vice versa 

17 for the purposes of strengthening working relation18 ships between agencies and promoting interagency 

19 experience. 

20 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the 

21 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security shall submit a report to the Committee 

23 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

24 Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

25 House of Representatives that describes— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the status of the implementation of the ac2 tion plans developed by the Animal and Plant 

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

4 Protection Joint Task Force on Improved Agri5 culture Inspection; 

6 ‘‘(2) the findings of the Secretary under para7 graphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (e); 

8 ‘‘(3) the plan described in paragraph (e)(4); 

9 ‘‘(4) the implementation of the remaining re10 quirements under such subsection (e); and 

11 ‘‘(5) any additional legal authority that the Sec12 retary determines to be necessary to effectively carry 

13 out the agriculture inspection mission of the Depart14 ment of Homeland Security. 

15 ‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall carry 

16 out this section acting through the Commissioner of U.S. 

17 Customs and Border Protection in consultation with the 

18 Assistant Commissioner for Agricultural Inspection.’’. 

Æ 


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