Title: To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response Task Force, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish within USDA an Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response Task Force. Among other responsibilities, the task force must (1) help promote the leadership of the United States with respect to the stability of the agriculture and food system supply chain; (2) monitor the resilience, diversity, security, and strength of the supply chain; and (3) support the creation of jobs with competitive wages in the U.S. agricultural and food system sector.
The head of the task force must be the Special Advisor on Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response who must conduct an evaluation of the stability and reliability of the agriculture and food system supply chain and report to Congress on the evaluation.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7675 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7675

 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
 establish an Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain Resilience and 
          Crisis Response Task Force, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 2022

Ms. Craig (for herself, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mrs. Bustos, Mrs. 
  Hinson, Mrs. Axne, and Mr. Feenstra) introduced the following bill; 
           which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
 establish an Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain Resilience and 
          Crisis Response Task Force, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SYSTEM SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE AND 
              CRISIS RESPONSE TASK FORCE.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle B of title II of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6931 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 229. AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SYSTEM SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE AND 
              CRISIS RESPONSE TASK FORCE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish in the 
Department an Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain Resilience and 
Crisis Response Task Force (in this section referred to as the `Task 
Force').
    ``(b) Mission.--The mission of the Task Force shall be the 
following:
            ``(1) Help to promote the leadership of the United States 
        with respect to the stability of the agriculture and food 
        system supply chain.
            ``(2) Encourage a Government-wide approach through 
        partnerships and collaboration with the private sector, labor 
        organizations, the governments of countries that are allies or 
        key international partners of the United States, States or 
        political subdivisions thereof, and Tribal governments in order 
        to--
                    ``(A) promote the resilience of the agriculture and 
                food system supply chain; and
                    ``(B) identify, prepare for, and respond to shocks 
                to the agricultural and food system supply chain.
            ``(3) Monitor the resilience, diversity, security, and 
        strength of the agricultural and food system supply chain.
            ``(4) Support the availability of agricultural and food 
        system supply chain goods for domestic manufacturers, domestic 
        producers, and domestic enterprises in the United States and in 
        countries that are allies or key international partners.
            ``(5) Assist the Federal Government in preparing for and 
        responding to shocks to the agricultural and food system supply 
        chain.
            ``(6) Support the creation of jobs with competitive wages 
        in the United States agricultural and food system sector.
            ``(7) Coordinate executive branch actions necessary to 
        carry out the functions described in paragraphs (1) through 
        (6).
    ``(c) Special Advisor on Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis 
Response.--The head of the Task Force shall be the Special Advisor on 
Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response (in this section, referred 
to as the `Special Advisor') who shall be appointed by the Secretary.
    ``(d) Agriculture and Food System Supply Chain Evaluation and 
Report.--
            ``(1) Evaluation.--The Special Advisor, in consultation 
        with the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of 
        Transportation, shall conduct an evaluation of the stability 
        and reliability of the agriculture and food system supply 
        chain. The evaluation shall focus on the items listed in 
        subsection (b).
            ``(2) Report to congress.--Not later than 270 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this section, the Special Advisor 
        shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on 
        Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Transportation and 
        Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the 
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
        Senate a report on the evaluation conducted under subsection 
        (a) that includes the following:
                    ``(A) An evaluation of--
                            ``(i) the strengths of the agriculture and 
                        food system supply chain;
                            ``(ii) the weaknesses of the agriculture 
                        and food system supply chain;
                            ``(iii) current and potential future 
                        critical bottlenecks in the agriculture and 
                        food system supply chain, including 
                        transportation bottlenecks in the distribution 
                        of agricultural inputs, processed and 
                        unprocessed food and food input products, and 
                        consumer-ready food products;
                            ``(iv) workforce challenges and 
                        opportunities in the agriculture and food 
                        system supply chain; and
                            ``(v) the overall stability and reliability 
                        of the agriculture and food system supply 
                        chain.
                    ``(B) An evaluation of Federal, State, and local 
                laws and regulations that--
                            ``(i) increase the stability and 
                        reliability of the agriculture and food system 
                        supply chain; or
                            ``(ii) decrease or otherwise negatively 
                        impact the stability and reliability of the 
                        agriculture and food system supply chain.
                    ``(C) Specific recommendations to improve the 
                security, safety, and resilience of the agriculture and 
                food system supply chain, including recommendations 
                that address challenges identified under paragraph (1) 
                and that also address--
                            ``(i) long-term strategies;
                            ``(ii) industry best practices;
                            ``(iii) risk-mitigation actions to prevent 
                        future bottlenecks and vulnerabilities at all 
                        levels of the agriculture and food system 
                        supply chain; and
                            ``(iv) legislative and regulatory actions 
                        that would positively impact the security and 
                        resilience of the agriculture and food system 
                        supply chain.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--Section 296(b) of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) The authority of the Secretary to establish in the 
        Department the Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain 
        Resilience and Crisis Response Task Force in accordance with 
        section 229.''.
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