[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4896 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4896
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to
provide reimbursement to agricultural producers for losses sustained
due to illegal immigration.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 30, 2021
Mr. Pfluger (for himself, Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas, Mr. Cuellar, and
Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the
Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to
provide reimbursement to agricultural producers for losses sustained
due to illegal immigration.
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 ``Reimbursing Agricultural Producers
for Immigration Damages Act'' or the ``RAPID Act''.
SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS FOR LOSSES SUSTAINED
DUE TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a
program under which the Secretary will reimburse agriculture producers
for qualified damages due to illegal immigration, to be known as the
Emergency Land and Food Program.
(b) Application.--
(1) In general.--An agricultural producer seeking
reimbursement under this Act shall submit an application to the
Secretary in such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may specify.
(2) Response.--Not later than 30 days after the receipt of
an application under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
(A) determine whether to provide the amount of
reimbursement requested in such application; and
(B) notify the agricultural producer submitting
such application of that determination.
(3) Verification.--The Secretary shall establish a process
under which the Secretary shall verify claims for reimbursement
specified in an application submitted under paragraph (1) with
a Federal law enforcement agency, the applicable State or local
law enforcement agency, or a State agency designated by the
Governor of the State in which the applicant is located.
(c) Amount.--The maximum amount a single agricultural producer may
receive as reimbursement under this section for a fiscal year shall not
exceed $100,000.
(d) Priority.--
(1) In general.--In providing reimbursements under this
section, the Secretary shall give priority to applications
submitted by agricultural producers who are located in counties
determined under paragraph (2) to have high levels of illegal
immigration.
(2) High levels of illegal immigration counties.--The
Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of Homeland
Security, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies to
determine which counties in the United States have high levels
of illegal immigration along the southern border of the United
States.
(e) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the date
specified in subsection (f), the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate a report on the nature of the payments
made to agricultural producers under this section, including--
(1) the number of applications for reimbursement under this
section that were approved;
(2) the number of such applications that were denied and
the reasons for such denials; and
(3) data on the amount of reimbursement provided to each
producer, the median amount such reimbursement, and the
counties in which recipients of such payments are located.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agricultural producer.--The term ``agricultural
producer'' means a producer of an agricultural product (as
defined in section 207 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of
1946 (7 U.S.C. 1626)), other than a processed or manufactured
product.
(2) Qualified damages.--The term ``qualified damages''
includes damages to property of an agricultural producer that
are determined by a Federal law enforcement officer, a State or
local law enforcement officer in the location involved, or the
State agency designated by the Governor of the State involved
to result from the actions of an alien present in the United
States without lawful status under the immigration laws (as
such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)), including--
(A) livestock loss and damage;
(B) crop loss and damage;
(C) damage to perimeter fences;
(D) damage to physical structures; and
(E) property loss and damage.
(g) Sunset.--The Secretary may not provide reimbursement under this
section on or after September 30, 2023.
(h) Funding.--
(1) In general.--There is rescinded $300,000,000 of the
unobligated balance of amounts made available by 602(a)(1) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 802(a)(1)).
(2) Appropriation.--If sufficient unobligated amounts made
available by 602(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
802(a)(1)) are available on the date of enactment of this Act
to execute the entire rescission described in paragraph (1),
then on the day after the execution of the entire rescission,
there is appropriated to the Secretary, out of amounts in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $300,000,000 to carry out
this section.
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