119-s2694

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2694 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2694

 To improve connections between the Department of Agriculture and 
 national and homeland security agencies, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 September 3, 2025

Mr. Padilla (for himself and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
 Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To improve connections between the Department of Agriculture and 
 national and homeland security agencies, 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. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Agriculture and National Security 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

 It is the sense of Congress that--

    (1) food and agriculture are critical to the national 
 security of the United States; and

    (2) additional efforts are needed to identify national 
 security vulnerabilities related to food and agriculture, 
 particularly with regard to emerging technologies.

SEC. 3. AGRICULTURE AND NATIONAL SECURITY.

    (a) Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for National Security.--

    (1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 
 (referred to in this section as ``Secretary'') shall--
        (A) establish within the Office of the Secretary 
 the position of Assistant Secretary for National 
 Security; and
        (B) appoint an individual to the position of 
 Assistant Secretary for National Security.

    (2) Authorization.--

Section 218

    (a) of the Department of 
 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6918

    (a) ) is 
 amended--
        (A) in paragraph

    (2) , by striking ``and'';
        (B) in paragraph

    (3) , by striking the period and 
 inserting ``; and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (4) Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for National 
 Security.''.

    (3) Duties.--

Section 218 of the Department of Agriculture 
 Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6918) is amended by adding 
 at the end the following:
 ``
            (d) Duties of Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for National 
Security.--The Secretary may delegate to the Assistant Secretary of 
Agriculture for National Security responsibility for--
 ``

    (1) serving as the principal advisor to the Secretary on 
 national security;
 ``

    (2) acting as the primary liaison on behalf of the 
 Department with the National Security Council and other Federal 
 departments and agencies in activities relating to national 
 security;
 ``

    (3) coordinating national security activities across the 
 Department, including--
 ``
        (A) the activities of the Office of Homeland 
 Security established under 

section 221;
 ``
        (B) the activities of the Intelligence Community 
 Counterintelligence Office established under 

section 7318 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
 Fiscal Year 2024 (50 U.S.C. 3384);
 ``
            (C) the implementation of the Agricultural 
 Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 
 3501 et seq.); and
 ``
            (D) the implementation of 

section 721 of the 
 Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565); and
 ``

    (4) coordinating with stakeholders to identify national 
 security vulnerabilities and risk mitigation strategies 
 relevant to food and agriculture, particularly with regard to 
 emerging technologies and issues, including biotechnology, 
 artificial intelligence, drones, cybersecurity, and supply 
 chain vulnerabilities.''.

    (b) Interagency Coordination.--

Section 221

    (e) of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6922

    (e) ) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (3) Detailees authorized.--The Secretary may provide 
 detailees to, and accept and employ personnel detailed from, 
 defense, national and homeland security, law enforcement, and 
 intelligence agencies, with or without reimbursement, to 
 improve information sharing, vulnerability identification, and 
 risk mitigation related to food and agriculture.''.
            (c) Biennial Reports.--

Section 221 of the Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6922) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
 ``

    (f) Biennial Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, and not less frequently than once every 2 
years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress and the 
National Security Council a report that includes--
 ``

    (1) from the perspective of the Department, an assessment 
 of any gaps or limitations in national security efforts related 
 to food and agriculture in the United States, including--
 ``
        (A) influence of foreign state-owned enterprise;
 ``
        (B) control of and access to agricultural data;
 ``
            (C) foreign acquisition of intellectual property, 
 agricultural assets, and land;
 ``
            (D) agricultural input shortages and dependence 
 on foreign-sourced inputs;
 ``
        (E) supply chain and trade disruptions;
 ``
        (F) science and technology cooperation;
 ``
        (G) cybersecurity and artificial intelligence;
 ``
        (H) unequal investments in research, development, 
 and scale-up;
 ``
            (I) incongruent regulatory policies; and
 ``
        (J) other vulnerabilities throughout the food and 
 agriculture sector, particularly with regard to 
 emerging technologies;
 ``

    (2) the actions taken by the Secretary to address any 
 gaps or limitations identified under paragraph

    (1) , including 
 through interagency coordination, threat information sharing, 
 and stakeholder outreach;
 ``

    (3) policy recommendations, including recommendations for 
 executive actions and legislative proposals--
 ``
        (A) to reduce any gaps or limitations identified 
 under paragraph

    (1) ; and
 ``
        (B) to address any identified vulnerabilities 
 with respect to the gaps or limitations identified 
 under paragraph

    (1) ; and
 ``

    (4) resources the Department requires to address current 
 and future national security vulnerabilities related to food 
 and agriculture, including gaps in personnel or access to 
 cleared systems.''.
            (d) Conforming 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 carry out the 
 amendments made to this title by the Agriculture and National 
 Security Act.''.
 <all>