I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4593 
To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy 
Act of 1977 to increase agricultural representation for United States 
territories, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 12, 2023 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. 
MOYLAN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Mr. SOTO, Mrs. 
RADEWAGEN, and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, 
and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to increase agricultural 
representation for United States territories, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agricultural Represen-
tation for the United States Territories Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF 
PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 
findings: 
(1) The United States territories face a unique 
set of challenges that have curbed agricultural devel-
opment and food sovereignty for more than 3.5 mil-
lion United States citizens and nationals, including 
long recovery processes from natural disasters, vul-
nerability to extreme weather events, and barriers to 
participation in Federal programs. 
(2) The United States territories import be-
tween 70 to 90 percent of their food at a high cost 
to residents. Puerto Rico, which has the largest pop-
ulation of all United States territories, imports 85 
percent of the food consumed locally. Natural disas-
ters and public health emergencies, such as the 
COVID–19 pandemic, further affect the dependency 
on imports and the availability of food for residents. 
(3) The lack of political representation for the 
United States territories at the Federal level has af-
fected the possibility to prioritize these challenges 
and advance the agricultural development of Puerto 
Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, American 
Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. 
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(b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of 
this Act to provide representation to the five United States 
territories, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 
American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
Guam, on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, 
Education, and Economics Advisory Board, and therefore 
contribute to setting a coordinated path forward at the 
Federal level for the agricultural development of the 
United States territories. 
SEC. 3. REPRESENTATION FOR UNITED STATES TERRI-
TORIES ON NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RE-
SEARCH, EXTENSION, EDUCATION, AND ECO-
NOMICS ADVISORY BOARD. 
Section 1408 of the National Agricultural Research, 
Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 
3123) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘15 
members’’ and inserting ‘‘16 members’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(E) 1 member representing the agricul-
tural interests of Puerto Rico, the United 
States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the 
Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam.’’; and 
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(2) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘2023’’ and 
inserting ‘‘2028’’. 
Æ 
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