[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4155 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4155
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to
require the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize centers of
excellence, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 26, 2025
Mr. Bacon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to
require the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize centers of
excellence, 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 ``American Agricultural Security
Research Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.
Section 1673 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act
of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5926) is amended--
(1) by striking subsections (a) through (c) and inserting
the following:
``(a) Centers of Excellence.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall
recognize at least one center of excellence for each of the
areas of focus described in paragraph (2) for the purpose of
carrying out research, extension, and education programs.
``(2) Areas of focus.--A center of excellence recognized
under this subsection may engage in research, extension, and
education programs focused on the following:
``(A) Aquaculture.--Developing and applying
aquaculture methods, including through the propagation
and rearing of economically and ecologically valuable
aquatic and marine species.
``(B) Beginning farmers and ranchers.--Training
beginning farmers and ranchers, including training on
farm and agribusiness management, mentoring and
technical assistance, and access to capital.
``(C) Biosecurity and cybersecurity.--Agricultural
biosecurity and cybersecurity efforts to defend the
food supply of the United States from--
``(i) a biosecurity or cybersecurity
attack; or
``(ii) other global catastrophic and
existential threats, as defined in section 7302
of the Global Catastrophic Risk Management Act
of 2022 (6 U.S.C. 821).
``(D) Biosystems and agricultural engineering.--
Biosystems and agricultural engineering, including
precision agriculture technologies and mechanization
and automation technologies for specialty crops.
``(E) Biotechnology.--Development of animal and
plant biotechnologies that will increase agricultural
productivity.
``(F) Crop production, protection, and
resilience.--Crop production and protection, including
the development, manufacture, and use of fertilizer,
crop protection tools, and adjuvants in increasing
productivity and protecting crops from damaging pests
and diseases.
``(G) Digital agriculture.--Developing, evaluating,
and deploying digital agriculture, including artificial
intelligence and remote sensing systems.
``(H) Farm business and financial management.--Farm
business and financial management activities, including
marketing plans, production diversification, and cash
forward contracting.
``(I) Food quality.--Improving food quality,
including research on the uptake of perfluoroalkyl and
polyfluoroalkyl substances in food, the presence of
microplastics in biosolids, and the efficacy and
feasibility of reducing levels of inorganic arsenic,
lead, cadmium, or mercury in food.
``(J) Foreign animal disease.--Foreign animal
diseases, including the ecology and etiology of
emerging diseases, control methods, and implementation
strategies to enhance preparedness and response efforts
to protect the livestock and poultry industry.
``(K) Forestry.--Forest productivity and forest
health, including invasive species control, biochar and
pyrolysis development and commercialization,
reforestation and restoration of damaged landscapes,
and new wood-based materials.
``(3) Host institutions.--
``(A) In general.--An institution eligible to host
or co-host a center of excellence recognized under this
subsection means--
``(i) a 1862 Institution, as defined in
section 2 of the Agricultural Research,
Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7
U.S.C. 7601);
``(ii) a 1890 Institution, as defined in
section 2 of the Agricultural Research,
Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7
U.S.C. 7601);
``(iii) a 1994 Institution, as defined in
section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-
Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note);
``(iv) a non-land-grant college of
agriculture, as defined in section 1404 of the
National Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103);
``(v) a Hispanic-serving agricultural
college or university, as defined in section
1404 of the National Agricultural Research,
Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7
U.S.C. 3103); and
``(vi) a college or school of veterinary
medicine accredited by the American Veterinary
Medical Association.
``(B) Distribution.--To the maximum extent
practicable, the Secretary shall ensure the geographic
diversity of institutions selected to host or co-host a
center of excellence recognized under this subsection.
``(C) Limitation.--An institution may host or co-
host only one center of excellence recognized under
this subsection during any given period.
``(D) Duties.--A institution selected to host or
co-host a center of excellence recognized under this
subsection shall partner with the Agricultural Research
Service, other Federal agencies, State governments,
other institutions of higher education (as defined in
section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001)), agricultural industry groups, or other
relevant entities to--
``(i) reduce duplicative efforts and focus
on filling gaps across research, extension, and
education programs by enhancing coordination
and improving cost-effectiveness;
``(ii) leverage available resources by
using public-private partnerships;
``(iii) implement training and educational
initiatives to increase awareness and
effectively disseminate solutions to target
audiences through extension activities;
``(iv) increase economic returns to rural
communities by identifying, attracting, and
directing funds to high-priority agricultural
issues;
``(v) rapidly respond to emerging issues
that threaten any sector of the agricultural
industry of the United States;
``(vi) focus on workforce development for
employers to recruit and retain high-quality
employees in rural areas; and
``(vii) engage in assistance for
administrative management and education
regarding potentially valuable intellectual
property derived from federally supported
research, extension, and education programs.
``(4) Duration.--The term of an award under this subsection
shall be for a five-year period and may be renewed for not more
than one additional five-year period.
``(5) Construction prohibited.--Funds made available under
this subsection shall not be used for--
``(A) the construction of a new building or
facility; or
``(B) the acquisition, expansion, remodeling, or
alteration of an existing building or facility
(including site grading and improvement and architect
fees).
``(6) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of
enactment of the American Agricultural Security Research Act of
2025, and every year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of
the Senate a report describing--
``(A) the projects initiated in the preceding year
by each center of excellence recognized under this
subsection;
``(B) the amount of funding for each such project
and the funding source;
``(C) the institutions participating in each such
project and their shares of the overall funding for
each project;
``(D) the level of cost-sharing for each such
project;
``(E) any technology transfer and intellectual
property management actions taken by each such center
of excellence, including the number of relevant
invention disclosures, any provisional patents filed,
any non-provisional patents filed and issued, the
number of licenses executed, and any start-up companies
registered; and
``(F) any additional information deemed necessary
by the Secretary.
``(7) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary $10,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out this subsection.'';
(2) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (b); and
(3) in subsection (b), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``The Secretary'' and
inserting ``In addition to the centers of
excellence recognized under subsection (a), the
Secretary''; and
(ii) by striking ``3'' and inserting ``8'';
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A)--
(I) in the subparagraph heading, by
striking ``and workforce development''
and inserting ``, workforce
development, and rural studies''; and
(II) by inserting ``economics,
psychology, rural sociology, data
sciences,'' after ``mathematics,'';
(ii) in subparagraph (E), by inserting
``and developing nature-based solutions to
improve the composition of soil organic
compounds, including carbon, that are
beneficial to soil quality and the
environment'' before the period at the end; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(G) Forest health and conservation.--A center of
excellence established under paragraph (1) may focus on
forest health, sustainable forest management,
agroforestry, enhancing forest resilience to
catastrophic wildfire, supporting rural infrastructure,
and urban and community forestry programs to promote
healthy forest ecosystems and resilient communities.
``(H) Food safety, bioprocessing, and value-added
agriculture.--A center of excellence established under
paragraph (1) may focus on food safety, bioprocessing,
value-added agriculture enterprise development, and
innovative food and agriculture product development.'';
and
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``2023'' and
inserting ``2029''.
SEC. 3. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
Section 1485 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3352) is amended to read as
follows:
``SEC. 1485. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a program under
which the Secretary will award grants on a competitive basis to
eligible entities to support research, extension, and education
activities that improve the capability of the United States to protect
the food and agricultural system from--
``(1) a chemical, biological, cybersecurity, or
bioterrorism attack; or
``(2) other global catastrophic and existential threats, as
defined in section 7302 of the Global Catastrophic Risk
Management Act of 2022 (6 U.S.C. 821).
``(b) Use of Funds.--An eligible entity that receives a grant under
this section shall use funds received through the grant--
``(1) to encourage basic and applied research on, and the
development of, qualified agricultural countermeasures;
``(2) to promote the development and expansion of teaching
programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine, and other
disciplines closely allied to the food and agriculture system
of the United States to increase the number of trained
individuals with an expertise in agricultural biosecurity and
cybersecurity;
``(3) to expand or upgrade facilities to meet biosafety and
biosecurity requirements necessary to protect facility staff,
members of the public, and the food supply while carrying out
agricultural biosecurity research;
``(4) to cover costs associated with the acquisition of
equipment and other capital costs related to expansion of food,
agriculture, and veterinary medicine teaching programs in
agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity; or
``(5) to otherwise improve the capacity of the United
States to respond in a timely manner to emerging or existing
threats.
``(c) Eligible Entities.--An entity eligible to receive a grant
under this section is--
``(1) a State agricultural experiment station;
``(2) a State department of agriculture;
``(3) a college or university;
``(4) a university research foundation;
``(5) a research institution or organization;
``(6) a Federal agency;
``(7) a national laboratory; or
``(8) any group consisting of 2 or more of the entities
described in paragraphs (1) through (7).
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2026 through 2030.''.
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