H.R. 7547

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7547 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7547

To provide for Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture 
joint research and development activities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 12, 2026

Mr. Messmer (for himself and Mr. Davis of North Carolina) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
Services, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To provide for Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture 
joint research and development activities, 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 ``DOD and USDA Interagency Research 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE JOINT 
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
Agriculture (referred to as the ``Secretaries'') shall carry out 
collaborative research and development activities focused on the joint 
advancement of Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture 
mission requirements and priorities in the areas of agriculture and 
food defense, as specified in section 221 of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6922), including 
requirements and priorities related to national security, agricultural 
resilience, feedstocks for bioindustrial manufacturing, and natural 
resource management.
(b) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Secretaries shall enter into 
a memorandum of understanding or another appropriate interagency 
agreement for the purposes of carrying out and coordinating the 
research activities under subsection (a). Such memorandum or agreement 
shall--
(1) formalize coordination between the Department of 
Defense and the Department of Agriculture on joint project 
activity in the areas specified in subsection (c);
(2) require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed 
process, which considers applications from Federal agencies, 
National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, 
nonprofit institutions, industry, and other appropriate 
entities;
(3) provide a framework for the Secretaries to enter into 
public-private partnerships under which--
(A) the Secretaries may make grants for the 
purposes of this Act; and
(B) the Secretaries require the recipient of any 
such grant to provide an amount of non-Federal matching 
funds in an amount equal to the amount of the grant 
involved;
(4) where appropriate, leverage existing bilateral and 
multilateral agreements with allies and partners;
(5) ensure that activities carried out under subsection (a) 
focus on the research and development of technologies and tools 
that are--
(A) characterized by high-payoff potential;
(B) designed to prepare for, prevent, protect 
against, or mitigate current or projected threats to 
mission requirements and priorities delineated under 
subsection (a); and
(C) dependent upon initial Federal investment to 
incentivize private development and broader market 
adoption; and
(6) establish a comprehensive risk management approach to 
gauge national security implications and inform and protect 
research, including through partner and performer engagement, 
due diligence processes, continual monitoring, cybersecurity, 
threat awareness and education, supply chain protection, 
information sharing, and risk mitigation.
(c) Coordination.--In carrying out the activities under subsection 
(a) and contingent on formally documented and mutually agreed upon 
research security practices, polices, and procedures, the Secretaries 
shall--
(1) conduct collaborative research on--
(A) engineering, mechanization, and technological 
improvements, including to address capacity issues 
across the agrifood supply chain;
(B) agricultural data architecture, including for 
applications of artificial intelligence and machine 
learning to agricultural data to optimize agricultural 
and defense systems;
(C) biological sciences, such as plant, animal, and 
microbial genetics, for--
(i) natural disaster and weather 
resiliency;
(ii) biosecurity;
(iii) biological, toxin, and chemical 
threat mitigation;
(iv) mitigation of the impacts to farmland 
contiguous to military bases of Department of 
Defense chemical releases, specifically, 
perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances 
(commonly referred to as PFAS), released 
through activities carried out by the 
Department of Defense; and
(v) invasive species management;
(D) management strategies for water, energy, soil, 
forests, and food to reduce scarcity risks to civilian 
and military operations;
(E) supply chain security, including feedstocks for 
bioindustrial manufacturing for defense applications, 
such as propellants, explosives, fuels, and other 
critical materials and precursors;
(F) agrifood supply chain security to minimize food 
disruptions, promote and protect agriculture as 
critical national infrastructure, and enhance defense 
logistics for military feeding;
(G) innovations applicable to defense objectives 
and beneficial to rural agricultural economies, 
including--
(i) precision agriculture technologies;
(ii) drones;
(iii) remote sensing; and
(iv) positioning, navigation, and timing 
capabilities;
(H) operational resilience to, and preparedness 
for, natural disasters, biosecurity hazards, and other 
threats to agricultural systems;
(I) wildfire prediction, prevention, and 
mitigation, including research on fuel load management, 
fire behavior modeling, post-fire recovery strategies, 
and the impact of wildfires on agricultural 
productivity and military readiness; and
(J) such other topics as the Secretaries may 
determine relevant to the mission requirements and 
priorities described in subsection (a);
(2) promote collaboration and secure information sharing 
with stakeholders that are capable of increasing market-based 
adoption of technologies developed pursuant to this Act;
(3) provide reliable access to secure data and information 
for entities that have analysis and intelligence capabilities 
and expertise relating to the defense of the food and 
agriculture critical infrastructure sector, including--
(A) Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies;
(B) relevant authorities at the Department of 
Defense, Department of Agriculture, and National 
Laboratories; and
(C) institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
institutions, and industry partners;
(4) ensure that, where activities utilize Federal data or 
records from agricultural producers, such data--
(A) is not subject to disclosure under section 552 
of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 
Freedom of Information Act); and
(B) is not disclosed pursuant to any other 
authority or action of the Secretaries;
(5) establish and fund research in areas identified by the 
Chief Scientist of the Department of Agriculture and the Under 
Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, including 
through the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development 
Authority established under section 1473H of the National 
Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 
1977 (7 U.S.C. 3319k) and the Department of Defense Office of 
Research and Engineering, to address mission requirements and 
priorities delineated under subsection (a);
(6) support research and workforce development as the 
Secretaries determine necessary to foster innovation in both 
the agricultural and defense sectors, including sharing of 
personnel of the Department of Defense and Department of 
Agriculture through the interagency exchange program 
established under section 221 of the Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6922); and
(7) conduct applied research, development, and 
demonstration projects to field-test innovations resulting from 
the collaborative research conducted under paragraph (1), with 
the purpose of transitioning successful technologies into real-
world agricultural and defense operations to improve 
effectiveness, reduce risks, and strengthen long-term 
readiness.
(d) Agreements.--In carrying out the activities under subsection 
(a), the Secretaries are authorized to--
(1) enter into reimbursable agreements between the 
Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, and other 
entities to maximize the effectiveness of research and 
development; and
(2) collaborate with relevant members of the intelligence 
community and other Federal agencies as appropriate.
(e) Authority To Use Unobligated Funds.--In addition to such sums 
as may be appropriated to carry out this Act, the Secretaries are 
authorized to carry out this Act using unobligated funds otherwise 
appropriated for the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development 
Authority within the Department of Agriculture and for research, 
development, testing, and evaluation within the Department of Defense.
(f) Reporting and Oversight.--
(1) Annual reports.--Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
Secretaries shall--
(A) submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report that includes a description of--
(i) interagency coordination between each 
Federal agency involved in the research and 
development activities carried out under this 
section, which shall include a description of 
the methodology used to select such activities 
for the year covered by the report;
(ii) potential opportunities to expand the 
technical capabilities of the Department of 
Defense and the Department of Agriculture;
(iii) collaborative research achievements 
and the impact of such achievements on national 
defense and agricultural resilience;
(iv) research security practices, policies, 
and procedures implemented in conjunction with 
the activities carried out under this Act;
(v) expenditures for research and 
development activities under this Act; and
(vi) future priorities for joint research; 
and
(B) make a version of the report available to the 
public, except that such publicly available version of 
the report may only contain information that is safe 
for public release in accordance with the Controlled 
Unclassified Information Programs at the Department of 
Defense and Department of Agriculture.
(2) Research security.--The activities authorized under 
this section shall be carried out in a manner consistent with 
subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, 
Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as division B of 
Public Law 117-167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.), to ensure 
research integrity and security.
(3) GAO reviews.--Not less frequently than once every five 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a review 
to assess the effectiveness and impact of the joint research 
initiative established under this Act.
(g) Judicial Deference.--Notwithstanding section 706 of title 5, 
United States Code, a court shall defer to the Secretaries' reasonable 
interpretation of any ambiguous provision of this Act.
(h) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) The term ``agriculture and food defense'' has the 
meaning giving that term in section 221 of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6922).
(2) The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
on Agriculture, and the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate.
<all>