I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5113 

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture 

Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a budgetary Tribal Government 

consultation process at the Department of Agriculture, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2023 

Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. LANGWORTHY, and Mr. LAMALFA) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 

and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, 

and Financial Services, 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 amend the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a budgetary Tribal Government consultation process 

at 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, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 5113 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Economic-devel3 opment Assistance and Consultation to Help Our Tribes 

4 Act’’ or the ‘‘REACH Our Tribes Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING A BUDGETARY TRIBAL GOVERN6 MENT CONSULTATION PROCESS AT THE DE7 PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 309 of the Federal Crop 

9 Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorga10 nization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921) is amended by add11 ing at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(c) BUDGETARY TRIBAL GOVERNMENT CONSULTA13 TION PROCESS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of the enactment of the Rural Economic-de16 velopment Assistance and Consultation to Help Our 

17 Tribes Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 

18 Office of Tribal Relations and the Office of Budget 

19 and Program Analysis of the Department of Agri20 culture, shall establish, finalize, and implement a 

21 formal process for consultation with Tribal Govern22 ments on at least an annual basis, on— 

23 ‘‘(A) annual budget requests; and 

24 ‘‘(B) bills proposing the reauthorization of 

25 certain Department of Agriculture programs 

26 over a period of multiple years with budgetary 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 5113 IH

1 impacts, including bills providing for the reau2 thorization of Department of Agriculture pro3 grams (commonly known as farm bills). 

4 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.—The consultation process under 

5 paragraph (1) shall require the Secretary to provide 

6 notice to Tribal Governments of a consultation not 

7 later than 30 days before the date on which such 

8 consultation is to occur. 

9 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—The Secretary, in consulta10 tion with Tribal Governments, shall develop and im11 plement a mechanism for reporting on any consulta12 tion that occurs pursuant to paragraph (1). Such a 

13 report shall include— 

14 ‘‘(A) a summary of issues consulted on; 

15 ‘‘(B) comments received during that con16 sultation from Tribal Governments; and 

17 ‘‘(C) if applicable, steps taken, or to be 

18 taken, by the Secretary in response to such con19 sultation. 

20 ‘‘(4) SCOPE.—The consultation process under 

21 paragraph (1) shall not be limited only to programs 

22 that are specific to Indian Tribes, but may include 

23 programs that may impact Indian Tribes and Tribal 

24 entities. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 5113 IH

1 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

2 this subsection shall be construed as limiting the 

3 Secretary from— 

4 ‘‘(A) conducting other consultations with 

5 Tribal Governments or other entities, as speci6 fied under another provision of Federal law; or 

7 ‘‘(B) advancing other practices to conduct 

8 such consultations.’’. 

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri11 culture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of 

12 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agri13 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report 

14 on— 

15 (1) how the Secretary developed the Tribal Gov16 ernment consultation process under subsection (c) of 

17 section 309 of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform 

18 and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act 

19 of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921), as added by subsection (a) 

20 of this section; and 

21 (2) a detailed description of the consultation 

22 process so developed. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 5113 IH

1 SEC. 3. REQUIRING DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO RE2 PORT PROGRAM FUNDING TO TRIBAL ENTI3 TIES. 

4 Section 309 of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform 

5 and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 

6 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921), as amended by section 2, is further 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM FUNDING REPORTING.—The Sec9 retary and the Office of Tribal Relations shall, in consulta10 tion with Tribal Governments, establish a plan for ana11 lyzing and publicly reporting to Tribal entities on funding 

12 provided through programs administered by the Secretary 

13 for which such entities are eligible to apply. In conducting 

14 such analysis, the Secretary shall identify ways to improve 

15 assistance provided through such programs to Tribal enti16 ties, including through conducting additional outreach to 

17 provide technical assistance for such programs that are 

18 underutilized by Tribal entities.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS RELATING TO TRIBES. 

20 Section 309 of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform 

21 and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 

22 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921), as amended by section 2, is further 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 5113 IH

1 ‘‘(A) The term ‘1994 Institution’ has the 

2 meaning given such term in section 532 of the 

3 Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act 

4 (7 U.S.C. 301 note). 

5 ‘‘(B) The term ‘Tribal entity’ means an 

6 Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, Tribal Gov7 ernment, 1994 Institution, Urban Indian orga8 nization, tribally-owned or tribally-controlled 

9 business or non-profit organization, an arm or 

10 instrumentality of one or more Indian Tribes, 

11 or a business or nonprofit organization owned 

12 or controlled by one or more members of an In13 dian Tribe. 

14 ‘‘(C) The term ‘Urban Indian organization’ 

15 has the meaning given such term in section 4 

16 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act 

17 (25 U.S.C. 1603). 

18 ‘‘(D) The term ‘Tribal Government’ means 

19 the governing body of any Indian or Alaska Na20 tive Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, com21 munity, component band or component reserva22 tion, individually identified (including par23 enthetically) in the list published most recently 

24 as of the date of enactment of this Act pursu25 ant to section 104 of the Federally Recognized 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 5113 IH

1 Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 

2 5131). 

3 ‘‘(E) The term ‘Tribal organization’ has 

4 the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 

5 Indian Self-Determination and Educational As6 sistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

7 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—For purposes of sub8 sections (c) and (d), the term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the 

9 meaning given such term in section 102 of the Fed10 erally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 

11 U.S.C. 5130).’’. 

12 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON ECONOMIC DEVEL13 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, in 

15 consultation with the Secretary for Housing and Urban 

16 Development and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 

17 Economic Development, shall establish an interagency 

18 task force— 

19 (1) to review guidance and application require20 ments for economic development programs adminis21 tered by the Secretary of Agriculture; and 

22 (2) to develop interagency agreements to reduce 

23 administrative and planning burdens for applicants 

24 to such programs and the Federal agencies admin25 istering such programs. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 5113 IH

1 (b) COMPOSITION.—The interagency task force es2 tablished under subsection (a) shall be composed of the 

3 following: 

4 (1) The Deputy Under Secretary for Rural De5 velopment of the Department of Agriculture (or 

6 their designee). 

7 (2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 

8 Economic Development (or their designee). 

9 (3) The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary 

10 for Community Planning and Development of the 

11 Department of Housing and Urban Development (or 

12 their designee). 

13 (4) Such other individuals or officials as deter14 mined appropriate by the Secretary of Agriculture, 

15 in consultation with the Secretary for Housing and 

16 Urban Development and the Assistant Secretary of 

17 Commerce for Economic Development. 

18 (c) DUTIES.—The task force established under sub19 section (a) shall— 

20 (1) in developing the agreements under sub21 section (a), identify opportunities for the Secretary 

22 of Agriculture, the Secretary for Housing and Urban 

23 Development, and the Assistant Secretary of Com24 merce for Economic Development— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•HR 5113 IH

1 (A) to align strategic planning require2 ments, stakeholder engagement requirements, 

3 and other application requirements; and 

4 (B) to issue joint guidance across pro5 grams of each such agency; and 

6 (2) establish a plan for regularly reviewing and 

7 updating interagency agreements entered into pursu8 ant to subsection (a) to ensure that such agree9 ments— 

10 (A) advance shared economic development 

11 objectives; 

12 (B) reduce applicant administrative and 

13 planning burdens; 

14 (C) reduce technical assistance needs; 

15 (D) reduce duplication in agency efforts; 

16 (E) improve collaboration across Federal, 

17 State, and local agencies; and 

18 (F) encourage and improve stakeholder 

19 and community engagement. 

20 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE REPOSITORY OF 

21 FEDERAL TRIBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

22 PROGRAMS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, in 

24 consultation with the Office of Native American Business 

25 Development, shall establish and implement a working 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•HR 5113 IH

1 group to develop, and regularly update, a comprehensive 

2 and public repository of Federal economic development 

3 programs available to Tribal entities (as defined in sub4 section (e) of section 309 of the Federal Crop Insurance 

5 Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization 

6 Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6921), as added by section 4) to— 

7 (1) reduce agency and applicant administrative 

8 burden in identifying Tribal economic development 

9 programs; 

10 (2) improve awareness and utilization of Tribal 

11 economic development programs; and 

12 (3) improve the ability of the Office of Native 

13 American Business Development to assist Tribal en14 tities. 

15 (b) COMPOSITION.—The working group established 

16 under subsection (a) shall be composed of representatives 

17 of— 

18 (1) the Office of Native American Business De19 velopment; 

20 (2) the Economic Development Administration; 

21 (3) the Small Business Administration; 

22 (4) the Department of Agriculture; 

23 (5) the Department of Education; 

24 (6) the Department of Health and Human 

25 Services; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
11 

•HR 5113 IH

1 (7) the Department for Housing and Rural De2 velopment; 

3 (8) the Department of the Interior; and 

4 (9) such other Federal offices or agencies, as 

5 determined appropriate by the Secretary of Com6 merce. 

7 (c) DUTIES.—The working group established under 

8 subsection (a) shall— 

9 (1) identify economic development programs 

10 across Federal agencies for which Tribal entities are 

11 eligible to participate or receive assistance; 

12 (2) establish a comprehensive publicly accessible 

13 repository of information on such programs; 

14 (3) develop and execute a plan for sharing such 

15 repository with Federal, State, and local agencies 

16 and Tribal entities; and 

17 (4) develop and execute a plan for regularly re18 viewing and updating such repository once at least 

19 every 2 years. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB