In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
Q: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''United States-Israel Agriculture
Strategic Partnership Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) The Agreement to establish the United States-Israel
Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD) Fund,
signed on October 25, 1977, between the United States
Government and the Government of Israel ''to promote and
support agricultural research and development activities which
are of mutual benefits to the United States and Israel''.
(2) Since its founding, the BARD Fund has cultivated
strategic partnerships between United States and Israeli
scientists and has been a benchmark for the establishment of
cooperative agreements.
(3) BARD Fund-sponsored research projects have contributed
billions of dollars to both United States and Israeli
economies, as determined by independent economic surveys. As
the major platform for United States-Israel agricultural
research collaboration, the BARD Fund has funded more than
1,300 bi-national projects, awarded over $300 million for
research and development, and supported other programs such as
more than 250 postdoctoral fellows and 50 scientific workshops.
(4) BARD Fund-sponsored research projects have led to
innovative developments, new technologies, and renewed focus in
drip irrigation, pesticides, fish farming, livestock, poultry,
disease control, and farm equipment.
(5) The BARD Fund has been successful in research
collaboration between United States and Israel without fraud,
waste, or abuse for 40 years.
(6) The Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S.
National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Israel
Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund To
Promote Scientific Collaboration among U.S. and Israeli
Scientists and Engineers, signed on November 22, 2013, promotes
collaboration between the United States and Israel. The 2013
Memorandum of Understanding was intended to provide a framework
whereby Israeli scientists and engineers could receive funding
from the BARD Fund and United States scientists and engineers
could receive funding from the National Institute for Food and
Agriculture.
(7) It would be in the interest of the United States to
expand the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding to include
cooperation with private entities and to statutorily authorize
the BARD Fund to enhance prospects for its long-term funding.
(8) In 2014, Congress enacted legislation declaring that
Israel is a major strategic partner of the United States and
authorized the President to promote cooperation with Israel in
multiple fields, including agriculture.
(9) Joint cooperation can help solve specific challenges,
including food safety, food security, food quality, and post-
harvest issues, as well as maximize production with limited
resources, environmental changes, water scarcity, and water
management.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF UNITED STATES-ISRAEL EXPANDED-BINATIONAL
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FUND.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with
the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, is authorized to establish a
program for cooperative research and development in agriculture with
the Government of Israel.
(b) Existing Authority.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall
establish and carry out the program authorized under subsection (a) in
a manner consistent with the Secretary's authority under section 1458
of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3291).
(c) Purpose.--The purpose of the program authorized under
subsection (a) shall be to establish a framework to enhance the
collaboration between the United States and Israel in research and
development activities relating to agriculture, including between
public and private entities.
(d) Activities Supported.--Activities that may be supported under
the program authorized under subsection (a) include--
(1) activities authorized under the Agreement to establish
the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and
Development (BARD) Fund; and
(2) activities authorized under section 1458 of the Food
and Agriculture Act of 1977.
(e) Nongovernmental and Private Entities.--Projects and activities
under the program authorized under subsection (a) may be carried out by
nongovernmental and private entities, including through collaboration
with private universities, research institutions, and corporations if
such projects and activities support the objectives of the Agreement to
establish the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and
Development (BARD) Fund.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary of Agriculture such sums as may be necessary to
carry out this section.
(2) Fund; availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to
the authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1)--
(A) shall be known as the ''United States-Israel
Expanded-Binational Agricultural Research and
Development Fund'' or ''E-BARD Fund''; and
(B) are authorized to remain available until
expended.
(3) Transfer authority.--The Secretary of Agriculture may
transfer amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of
appropriations under paragraph (1) to the heads of other
relevant Federal departments and agencies, including the
Department of State and the United States Agency for
International Development, for purposes of carrying out the
program authorized under subsection (a).
(g) Binational Task Force.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State, in coordination
with the Secretary of Agriculture, is authorized to seek to
establish a binational task force to provide guidance and
oversight with respect to the program authorized under
subsection (a), including to address matters described in
paragraph (2).
(2) Matters described.--The matters described in this
paragraph are the following:
(A) Identifying funding priorities and innovative
developments in agriculture in evaluating projects
under the program.
(B) Proposing research competitions among
universities and private entities in selecting projects
under the program.
(3) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the task force established under paragraph (1) should be
comprised of the following:
(A) The Secretary of Agriculture.
(B) The Israeli Minister for Agriculture and Rural
Development.
(C) Members of the board of directors of the BARD
Fund.
(D) The administrators of the Agriculture Research
Service, Economic Research Service, and the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture.
(E) The chief scientist of the Israeli Ministry of
Agriculture and the director of the Agricultural
Research Organization--Volcani Center.
A:
United States-Israel Agriculture Strategic Partnership Act This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture to establish a program for cooperative research and development in agriculture with the government of Israel. The purpose of the program is to establish a framework to enhance the collaboration between the United States and Israel in research and development activities relating to agriculture, including between public and private entities. The bill also authorizes the Department of State to establish a binational task force to provide guidance and oversight with respect to the cooperative research and development program.