H.R. 4155

[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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