[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4593 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4593

 To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 
 Policy Act of 1977 to increase agricultural representation for United 
              States territories, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 12, 2023

 Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. 
    Moylan, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Soto, Mrs. 
 Radewagen, and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the following bill; which was 
                referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 
 Policy Act of 1977 to increase agricultural representation for United 
              States territories, 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 ``Agricultural Representation for the 
United States Territories Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The United States territories face a unique set of 
        challenges that have curbed agricultural development and food 
        sovereignty for more than 3.5 million United States citizens 
        and nationals, including long recovery processes from natural 
        disasters, vulnerability to extreme weather events, and 
        barriers to participation in Federal programs.
            (2) The United States territories import between 70 to 90 
        percent of their food at a high cost to residents. Puerto Rico, 
        which has the largest population of all United States 
        territories, imports 85 percent of the food consumed locally. 
        Natural disasters and public health emergencies, such as the 
        COVID-19 pandemic, further affect the dependency on imports and 
        the availability of food for residents.
            (3) The lack of political representation for the United 
        States territories at the Federal level has affected the 
        possibility to prioritize these challenges and advance the 
        agricultural development of Puerto Rico, the United States 
        Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        and Guam.
    (b) Statement of Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to provide 
representation to the five United States territories, Puerto Rico, the 
United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana 
Islands, and Guam, on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, 
Education, and Economics Advisory Board, and therefore contribute to 
setting a coordinated path forward at the Federal level for the 
agricultural development of the United States territories.

SEC. 3. REPRESENTATION FOR UNITED STATES TERRITORIES ON NATIONAL 
              AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTENSION, EDUCATION, AND 
              ECONOMICS ADVISORY BOARD.

    Section 1408 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and 
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3123) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``15 members'' 
                and inserting ``16 members''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the 
                following:
                    ``(E) 1 member representing the agricultural 
                interests of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 
                Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, 
                and Guam.''; and
            (2) in subsection (h), by striking ``2023'' and inserting 
        ``2028''.
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