I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5033 

To provide standing authority and accountability for the Secretary of Agriculture and senior leadership of the Department of Agriculture to improve the equitable availability and distribution of services and program 

benefits to the people of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. IVEY, and Ms. 

CLARKE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To provide standing authority and accountability for the 

Secretary of Agriculture and senior leadership of the 

Department of Agriculture to improve the equitable availability and distribution of services and program benefits 

to the people of the United States, 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 ‘‘Ensuring Account5 ability for Equity at USDA Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act and the amendments made 

3 by this Act are— 

4 (1) to implement recommendations from the 

5 Department of Agriculture Equity Commission; and 

6 (2) to emphasize and strengthen section 2501A 

7 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 

8 Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279–1). 

9 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SO10 CIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS AND 

11 RANCHERS. 

12 Section 2501A of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva13 tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279–1) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in subsection (c)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (3), in the paragraph 

17 heading, by striking ‘‘REPORT’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘COMPILATION AND PRESENTING OF DATA’’; 

19 and 

20 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the re21 port described in paragraph (3)’’ and inserting 

22 the following: ‘‘a report that contains— 

23 ‘‘(A) the compiled and presented data 

24 under paragraph (3); 

25 ‘‘(B) a description of trends in that data 

26 over 5- and 10-year periods; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) a discussion of efforts to implement 

2 necessary improvements to equity identified 

3 through activities under subsection (f), includ4 ing metrics to quantify, and timelines for imple5 mentation, of those improvements.’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(f) EXAMINATION AND ASSESSMENT OF PRO8 GRAMS.—In furtherance of the purposes of this section, 

9 the Secretary shall use data collected under this section 

10 to examine and assess programs and policies of the De11 partment of Agriculture to identify and understand— 

12 ‘‘(1) communities, organizations, groups, and 

13 individuals in need of services or benefits provided 

14 under Department programs; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the extent to which participants benefitting 

16 from funding distributed under Department pro17 grams align with the communities, organizations, 

18 groups, and individuals described in paragraph (1) 

19 such that the funding effectively reduces disparities 

20 in access to Department programs.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EQUITY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Department of 

23 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by in24 serting after section 216 (7 U.S.C. 6916) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 217. ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EQUITY. 

2 ‘‘(a) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.—A performance 

3 evaluation of an individual occupying a position of the 

4 head of an agency or a senior executive of the Department 

5 shall include an evaluation of appropriate direct efforts of 

6 the individual to improve equity in the programs and serv7 ices under the jurisdiction of the agency head or senior 

8 executive. 

9 ‘‘(b) CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue 

11 uniform, Department-wide guidance for each agency 

12 and office of the Department relating to— 

13 ‘‘(A) collecting feedback from participants 

14 in Department programs; 

15 ‘‘(B) responding to that feedback; and 

16 ‘‘(C) using that feedback to improve efforts 

17 to provide more equitable and consistent serv18 ices to all individuals that seek service from and 

19 engage with the Department. 

20 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidance issued 

21 under paragraph (1) shall require— 

22 ‘‘(A) opportunities for participants to pro23 vide feedback through multiple means, such as 

24 evaluations, surveys, or such other means as the 

25 Secretary determines to be appropriate; 


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1 ‘‘(B) opportunities described in subpara2 graph (A) to be advertised through means such 

3 as newspaper, radio, or such other means as the 

4 Secretary determines to be appropriate; 

5 ‘‘(C) opportunities described in subpara6 graph (A) to be facilitated and advertised, and 

7 responses to feedback to be provided, in mul8 tiple languages, as the Secretary determines to 

9 be appropriate; and 

10 ‘‘(D) specific opportunities for participants 

11 with direct involvement in a Department pro12 gram to provide feedback, including by pro13 viding appropriate compensation to those par14 ticipants for time and expertise. 

15 ‘‘(c) CUSTOMER SERVICE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall ensure 

17 that employees of the Department receive cultural 

18 competency training, as appropriate for the roles of 

19 the employees. 

20 ‘‘(2) LANGUAGE CONTRACTS.—The Secretary 

21 shall consider, in entering into contracts or coopera22 tive agreements for language translation or interpre23 tation services, whether the needed services would 

24 best be provided by a community-based organization. 


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1 ‘‘(3) STAFF KNOWLEDGE OF APPLICABLE PRO2 GRAMS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(i) CUSTOMER.—The term ‘cus5 tomer’ means a recipient of, applicant for, 

6 or potential applicant for services or bene7 fits under a Department program. 

8 ‘‘(ii) FRONTLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE

9 STAFF.—The term ‘frontline customer 

10 service staff’ means an employee of the 

11 Department who directly interacts with 

12 customers. 

13 ‘‘(B) CAPACITY BUILDING.—The Secretary 

14 shall build the capacity of frontline customer 

15 service staff to make available to customers the 

16 services or benefits for which the customers are 

17 eligible. 

18 ‘‘(C) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub19 paragraph (B), the Secretary may— 

20 ‘‘(i) provide to frontline customer 

21 service staff of the Department— 

22 ‘‘(I) training and mentoring re23 lating to customer service skillsets; 


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1 ‘‘(II) training on technical tools 

2 at the disposal of the frontline cus3 tomer service staff; and 

4 ‘‘(III) training and shareable re5 sources relating to— 

6 ‘‘(aa) the Department pro7 grams for which a customer may 

8 be eligible; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) the technical require10 ments and benefits of those pro11 grams; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) establish a customer feedback op13 portunity after each interaction with the 

14 Department. 

15 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATIONS TO CONGRESS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) LACK OF AUTHORITY.—If the Secretary 

17 identifies an opportunity to improve equity in a par18 ticular program or service but lacks authority to 

19 make the necessary changes, the Secretary shall sub20 mit to Congress a notification describing— 

21 ‘‘(A) that opportunity and lack of author22 ity; and 

23 ‘‘(B) a recommendation for a legislative 

24 change. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES.—If the Sec2 retary identifies the need for additional resources to 

3 improve equity in a particular program or service, 

4 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a notification 

5 that provides an explanation of the needed re6 sources. 

7 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall carry 

8 out this section using funding and staff from within exist9 ing budgets and appropriations for the Department.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 296(b) of 

11 the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 

12 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry 

15 out section 217.’’. 

Æ 


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