Review - HR 8447 Introduced – Agricultural Security

In May, Rep Bacon (R,NE) introduced HR 8447, the American Agricultural Security Act of 2024. The bill would require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish four centers of excellence for the purpose of carrying out research, extension, and education activities for each of the areas of focus outlined in the bill; one of those Centers would be focused on agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity efforts to defend the United States food supply from any attacks. The bill would authorize $10 million per year through 2029 to finance these efforts. The bill would authorize $10 million per year through 2029 to finance these efforts.

The legislation would also require USDA to establish a grant program to improve the capability of the United States to protect the food and agricultural system from any chemical, biological, cybersecurity, or bioterrorism attack. The grant program would also be authorized through 2029 at $10 million per year.

Moving Forward

Bacon and his two cosponsors {Rep Nunn (R,IA) and Rep Carbajal (D,CA)} are members of the House Agriculture Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I suspect that there will be some level of bipartisan support for the bill, the $20 million in new spending authorized will draw some level of Republican opposition. We will have to wait to see how much support there is in committee for this bill to see whether or not this bill could move to the full House under the suspension of the rules process. It must be remembered, however, that Ag Committee members generally have more political cause to support agricultural research spending than does the average member of the House.

Commentary

It is heartening to see the bills’ focus on biosecurity and cybersecurity research. I am disappointed that I did not see the crafters of this legislation note that cybersecurity efforts should also be specifically included in as part of the focus for the two other technology related focus areas: biosystems and agricultural engineering, and digital agriculture.

 

For more details about the provisions of this legislation – including a proposed language change – see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - - subscription required.