I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5033 
To provide standing authority and accountability for the Secretary of Agri-
culture and senior leadership of the Department of Agriculture to im-
prove 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 avail-
ability and distribution of services and program benefits 
to the people of the United States, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Ensuring Account-
ability for Equity at USDA Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act and the amendments made 
by this Act are— 
(1) to implement recommendations from the 
Department of Agriculture Equity Commission; and 
(2) to emphasize and strengthen section 2501A 
of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 
Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279–1). 
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SO-
CIALLY 
DISADVANTAGED 
FARMERS 
AND 
RANCHERS. 
Section 2501A of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva-
tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279–1) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (3), in the paragraph 
heading, by striking ‘‘REPORT’’ and inserting 
‘‘COMPILATION
AND
PRESENTING
OF
DATA’’; 
and 
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the re-
port described in paragraph (3)’’ and inserting 
the following: ‘‘a report that contains— 
‘‘(A) the compiled and presented data 
under paragraph (3); 
‘‘(B) a description of trends in that data 
over 5- and 10-year periods; and 
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‘‘(C) a discussion of efforts to implement 
necessary improvements to equity identified 
through activities under subsection (f), includ-
ing metrics to quantify, and timelines for imple-
mentation, of those improvements.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) EXAMINATION
AND
ASSESSMENT
OF
PRO-
GRAMS.—In furtherance of the purposes of this section, 
the Secretary shall use data collected under this section 
to examine and assess programs and policies of the De-
partment of Agriculture to identify and understand— 
‘‘(1) communities, organizations, groups, and 
individuals in need of services or benefits provided 
under Department programs; and 
‘‘(2) the extent to which participants benefitting 
from funding distributed under Department pro-
grams align with the communities, organizations, 
groups, and individuals described in paragraph (1) 
such that the funding effectively reduces disparities 
in access to Department programs.’’. 
SEC. 4. ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EQUITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by in-
serting after section 216 (7 U.S.C. 6916) the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 217. ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EQUITY. 
‘‘(a) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.—A performance 
evaluation of an individual occupying a position of the 
head of an agency or a senior executive of the Department 
shall include an evaluation of appropriate direct efforts of 
the individual to improve equity in the programs and serv-
ices under the jurisdiction of the agency head or senior 
executive. 
‘‘(b) CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue 
uniform, Department-wide guidance for each agency 
and office of the Department relating to— 
‘‘(A) collecting feedback from participants 
in Department programs; 
‘‘(B) responding to that feedback; and 
‘‘(C) using that feedback to improve efforts 
to provide more equitable and consistent serv-
ices to all individuals that seek service from and 
engage with the Department. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidance issued 
under paragraph (1) shall require— 
‘‘(A) opportunities for participants to pro-
vide feedback through multiple means, such as 
evaluations, surveys, or such other means as the 
Secretary determines to be appropriate; 
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‘‘(B) opportunities described in subpara-
graph (A) to be advertised through means such 
as newspaper, radio, or such other means as the 
Secretary determines to be appropriate; 
‘‘(C) opportunities described in subpara-
graph (A) to be facilitated and advertised, and 
responses to feedback to be provided, in mul-
tiple languages, as the Secretary determines to 
be appropriate; and 
‘‘(D) specific opportunities for participants 
with direct involvement in a Department pro-
gram to provide feedback, including by pro-
viding appropriate compensation to those par-
ticipants for time and expertise. 
‘‘(c) CUSTOMER SERVICE.— 
‘‘(1) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall ensure 
that employees of the Department receive cultural 
competency training, as appropriate for the roles of 
the employees. 
‘‘(2) LANGUAGE
CONTRACTS.—The Secretary 
shall consider, in entering into contracts or coopera-
tive agreements for language translation or interpre-
tation services, whether the needed services would 
best be provided by a community-based organization. 
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‘‘(3) STAFF KNOWLEDGE OF APPLICABLE PRO-
GRAMS.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) 
CUSTOMER.—The 
term 
‘cus-
tomer’ means a recipient of, applicant for, 
or potential applicant for services or bene-
fits under a Department program. 
‘‘(ii) FRONTLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE 
STAFF.—The term ‘frontline customer 
service staff’ means an employee of the 
Department who directly interacts with 
customers. 
‘‘(B) CAPACITY BUILDING.—The Secretary 
shall build the capacity of frontline customer 
service staff to make available to customers the 
services or benefits for which the customers are 
eligible. 
‘‘(C) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub-
paragraph (B), the Secretary may— 
‘‘(i) provide to frontline customer 
service staff of the Department— 
‘‘(I) training and mentoring re-
lating to customer service skillsets; 
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‘‘(II) training on technical tools 
at the disposal of the frontline cus-
tomer service staff; and 
‘‘(III) training and shareable re-
sources relating to— 
‘‘(aa) the Department pro-
grams for which a customer may 
be eligible; and 
‘‘(bb) the technical require-
ments and benefits of those pro-
grams; and 
‘‘(ii) establish a customer feedback op-
portunity after each interaction with the 
Department. 
‘‘(d) NOTIFICATIONS TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(1) LACK OF AUTHORITY.—If the Secretary 
identifies an opportunity to improve equity in a par-
ticular program or service but lacks authority to 
make the necessary changes, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to Congress a notification describing— 
‘‘(A) that opportunity and lack of author-
ity; and 
‘‘(B) a recommendation for a legislative 
change. 
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