be enhanced by ideas and technologies from other 
fields of science and research. 
(4) Opportunities to advance fundamental 
knowledge of benefit to agriculture in the United 
States have never been greater. Many of these new 
opportunities are the result of amazing progress in 
the life sciences over recent decades, attributable in 
large part to the provision made by the Federal Gov-
ernment through the National Institutes of Health 
and the National Science Foundation. New tech-
nologies and new concepts have speeded advances in 
the fields of genetics, cell and molecular biology, and 
proteomics. Much of this scientific knowledge is 
ready to be mined for agriculture and food sciences, 
through a sustained, disciplined research effort at an 
institute dedicated to this research. 
(5) Publicly sponsored research is essential to 
continued agricultural innovation to mitigate or har-
monize the long-term effects of agriculture on the 
environment, to enhance the long-term sustainability 
of agriculture, and to improve the public health and 
welfare. 
(6) Competitive, peer-reviewed fundamental ag-
ricultural research is best suited to promoting the 
fundamental research from which breakthrough in-
novations that agriculture and society require will 
come. 
(7) It is in the national interest to dedicate ad-
ditional funds on a long-term, ongoing basis to an 
institute dedicated to funding competitive peer-re-
viewed grant programs that support and promote 
the highest caliber of fundamental agricultural re-
search. 
(8) The Nation’s capacity to be competitive 
internationally in agriculture is threatened by inad-
equate investment in research. 
(9) To be successful over the long term, grant- 
receiving institutions must be adequately reimbursed 
for their costs if they are to pursue the necessary 
agricultural research. 
(10) To meet these challenges, address these 
needs, and provide for vitally needed agricultural in-
novation, it is in the national interest to provide suf-
ficient Federal funds over the long term to fund a 
significant program of fundamental agricultural re-
search through an independent institute. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Division estab-
lished under section 4(a) shall be to ensure that the tech-
nological superiority of agriculture in the United States 
effectively serve the people of the United States in the
coming decades, and to support and promote fundamental 
agricultural research of the highest caliber in order to 
achieve goals, including the following goals: 
(1) Increase the international competitiveness 
of United States agriculture. 
(2) Develop knowledge leading to new foods and 
practices that improve nutrition and health and re-
duce obesity. 
(3) Create new and more useful food, fiber, 
health, medicinal, energy, environmental, and indus-
trial products from plants and animals. 
(4) Improve food safety and food security by 
protecting plants and animals in the United States 
from insects, diseases, and the threat of bioter-
rorism. 
(5) Enhance agricultural sustainability and im-
prove the environment. 
(6) Strengthen the economies of the Nation’s 
rural communities. 
(7) Decrease United States dependence on for-
eign sources of petroleum by developing biobased 
fuels and materials from plants. 
(8) Strengthen national security by improving 
the agricultural productivity of subsistence farmers
in developing countries to combat hunger and the 
political instability that it produces. 
(9) Assist in modernizing and revitalizing the 
Nation’s agricultural research facilities at institu-
tions of higher education, independent nonprofit re-
search institutions, and consortia of such institu-
tions, through capital investment. 
(10) Achieve such other goals and meet such 
other needs as determined appropriate by the Foun-
dation, the Director, or the Secretary. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF DIVISION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 
the National Science Foundation a Division of Food and 
Agricultural Science. The Division shall be administered 
by a Director of Food and Agricultural Science. 
(b) REPORTING AND CONSULTATION.—The Director 
shall coordinate the research agenda of the Division after 
consultation with the Secretary. 
(c) STANDING COUNCIL OF ADVISORS.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—There is established a 
Standing Council of Advisors composed of 12 
highly qualified scientists who are not employed 
by the Federal Government and 12 stake-
holders.
(B) SCIENTISTS.— 
(i) APPOINTMENT.—The 12 scientist 
members of the Council shall be appointed 
to 4-year staggered terms by the Director 
of Food and Agricultural Science, with the 
consent of the Director of the National 
Science Foundation. 
(ii) QUALIFICATIONS.—The persons 
nominated for appointment as scientist 
members of the Council shall be— 
(I) eminent in the fields of agri-
cultural research, nutrition, science, 
or related appropriate fields; and 
(II) selected for appointment 
solely on the basis of established 
records of distinguished service and to 
provide representation of the views of 
agricultural research and scientific 
leaders in all areas of the Nation. 
(C) STAKEHOLDERS.— 
(i) APPOINTMENT.—The 12 stake-
holder members of the Council shall be ap-
pointed to 4-year staggered terms by the 
Secretary, with the consent of the Direc-
tor.
(ii) QUALIFICATIONS.—The persons 
nominated for appointment as stakeholder 
members of the Council shall— 
(I) include distinguished mem-
bers of the public of the United 
States, including representatives of 
farm organizations and industry, and 
persons knowledgeable about the envi-
ronment, subsistence agriculture, en-
ergy, and human health and disease; 
and 
(II) be selected for appointment 
so as to provide representation of the 
views of stakeholder leaders in all 
areas of the Nation. 
(2) DUTIES.—The Council shall assist the Di-
rector in establishing the Division’s research prior-
ities, and in reviewing, judging, and maintaining the 
relevance of the programs funded by the Division. 
The Council shall review all proposals approved by 
the scientific committees of the Division to ensure 
that the purposes of this Act and the needs of the 
Nation are being met. 
(3) MEETINGS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall hold 
periodic meetings in order to— 
(i) provide an interface between sci-
entists and stakeholders; and 
(ii) ensure that the Division is linking 
national goals with realistic scientific op-
portunities. 
(B) TIMING.—The meetings shall be held 
at the call of the Director, or at the call of the 
Secretary, but not less frequently than annu-
ally. 
SEC. 5. FUNCTIONS OF DIVISION. 
(a) COMPETITIVE RESEARCH.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out 
the purposes of this Act by awarding competitive 
peer-reviewed grants to support and promote the 
very highest quality of fundamental agricultural re-
search. 
(2) GRANT
RECIPIENTS.—The Director shall 
make grants to fund research proposals submitted 
by— 
(A) individual scientists; 
(B) single and multi-institutional research 
centers; and
(C) entities from the private and public 
sectors, including researchers in the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, the Foundation, or other 
Federal agencies. 
(b) COMPLEMENTARY
RESEARCH.—The research 
funded by the Division shall— 
(1) supplement and enhance, not supplant, the 
existing research programs of, or funded by, the De-
partment of Agriculture, the Foundation, and the 
National Institutes of Health; and 
(2) seek to make existing research programs 
more relevant to the United States food and agri-
culture system, consistent with the purposes of this 
Act. 
(c) GRANT-AWARDING ONLY.—The Division’s sole 
duty shall be to award grants. The Division may not con-
duct fundamental agricultural research or fundamental 
science, or operate any laboratories or pilot plants. 
(d) PROCEDURES.—The Director shall establish pro-
cedures for the peer review, awarding, and administration 
of grants under this Act, consistent with sound manage-
ment and the findings and purposes described in section 
3. 
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