,i #aahth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #fiba ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,january #i1 #bjbd,ms4 ,de ,la ,cruz 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,cuellar1 ,mr4 ,tony ,gonzales of ,texas1 and ,mr4 ,vicente ,gonzalez of ,texas7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,agriculture ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,food ,security ,act of #aihe to authorize payments under the environmental quality incentives program to assist producers in implementing certain conservation practices along the southern border of ,texas1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,southern ,border ,farmers and ,ranchers ,protection ,act4 #b4 ,southern ,border ,initiative ,section #abdj;,b of the ,food ,security ,act of #aihe 7#af ,u4,s4,c4 #chci;aa-#b7 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7k7 ,southern ,border ,initiative 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary shall provide payments to producers under the program to implement conservation practices to address and repair damage1 to agricultural land and farming infrastructure on covered land of such producers1 that contributes to natural resource concerns or problems4 7#b7 ,contract term ,a contract to provide payments under paragraph 7#a7 shall have a term of #a year4 7#c7 ,covered land defined ,in this subsection1 the term covered land means land in a county at or near the southern border of ,texas1 including the following counties3 7,a7 ,brewster4 7,b7 ,brooks4 7,c7 ,cameron4 7,d7 ,crockett4 7,e7 ,culberson4 7,f7 ,dimmit4 7,g7 ,duval4 7,h7 ,edwards4 7,i7 ,el ,paso4 7,j7 ,frio4 7,k7 ,hidalgo4 7,l7 ,hudspeth4 7,m7 ,jeff ,davis4 7,n7 ,jim ,hogg4 7,o7 ,jim ,wells4 7,p7 ,karnes4 7,q7 ,kenedy4 7,r7 ,kinney4 7,s7 ,kleberg4 7,t7 ,la ,salle4 7,u7 ,live ,oak4 7,v7 ,maverick4 7,w7 ,mc,mullen4 7,x7 ,pecos4 7,y7 ,presidio4 7,z7 ,reeves4 7,,aa7 ,starr4 7,,bb7 ,sutton4 7,,cc7 ,terrell4 7,,dd7 ,uvalde4 7,,ee7 ,val ,verde4 7,,ff7 ,webb4 7,,gg7 ,willacy4 7,,hh7 ,zapata4 7,,ii7 ,zavala4 4