[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2456 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2456
To establish rural export centers, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 24, 2025
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Hoeven, Ms. Smith, and Mr. Cramer)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish rural export centers, 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 ``Promoting Rural Exports Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Rural businesses are often located far from information
clusters and major transportation corridors.
(2) Because of their location, rural businesses face higher
barriers to accessing international markets.
(3) A dedicated National Rural Export Center within the
United States and Foreign Commercial Service, and regional
rural export centers, providing business- and product-specific
support can help companies in the United States looking to
export their products.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF RURAL EXPORT CENTERS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary''
means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General
of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service appointed
pursuant to section 2301(a)(2) of the Export Enhancement Act of
1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721(a)(2)).
(2) Commercial service.--The term ``Commercial Service''
means the United States and Foreign Commercial Service
established under section 2301(a)(1) of the Export Enhancement
Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721(a)(1)).
(b) Establishment of the National Rural Export Center.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall
establish a National Rural Export Center for the purpose of
providing businesses located in rural areas in the United
States with resources to help those businesses export their
products.
(2) Location of the national rural export center.--
(A) In general.--The National Rural Export Center
shall be established at an office of the Commercial
Service in the United States in existence before the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(B) Criteria for selecting location.--In selecting
a location for the National Rural Export Center, the
Assistant Secretary shall give preference--
(i) based on expertise and operations at
Commercial Service offices that support rural
businesses exporting to new markets before the
date of the enactment of this Act; and
(ii) to such offices not located in major
metropolitan areas.
(C) Location of staff.--Any researcher or staff
directly supporting the operation of the National Rural
Export Center shall be primarily based at the National
Rural Export Center.
(c) Establishment of Regional Rural Export Centers.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall
establish not more than 9 regional rural export centers for the
purposes of providing businesses located in rural areas within
their regions with resources to help those businesses export
their products.
(2) Subordination.--The programs, activities, and
expenditures of the regional rural export centers shall be
subordinate to and delegated by the National Rural Export
Center.
(d) Export Center Operations.--
(1) In general.--The National Rural Export Center and
regional rural export centers shall--
(A) provide in-depth, customized, and actionable
market research services that--
(i) a business may opt into based on need;
and
(ii) are--
(I) focused on actionable and
measurable results for a business;
(II) business- and product-
specific;
(III) based on high-quality data,
including data from international trade
association subscription databases; and
(IV) based on market analysis and
export services of the Commercial
Service available before the date of
the enactment of this Act, including
the Rural Export Center Research
Program; and
(B) conduct strategic planning and export support
services for rural businesses as needed.
(2) Measure of effectiveness.--To measure the effectiveness
of the National Rural Export Center and regional rural export
centers, the centers shall collect and make available data on--
(A) the number of businesses that sign up for
market research assistance;
(B) the number of export assistance services a
business engages in following the research assistance,
including--
(i) trade shows;
(ii) trade missions; and
(iii) other services facilitated by the
Commercial Service; and
(C) the total monetary value of exports facilitated
by the services provided by the centers.
(3) Websites.--The National Rural Export Center and each
regional rural export center shall maintain an internet website
that includes--
(A) data collected by the center;
(B) best practices for rural businesses beginning
to evaluate export opportunities; and
(C) appropriate contact information for staff at
the center.
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