,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #dfjg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #bj1      
#bjbf,mr4 ,banks 7for himself and ,mr4  
,budd7 introduced the following bill2   
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a     
,,bill  ,to provide for ,department of  
,defense and ,department of ,agriculture
 joint research and development         
activities1 and for other purposes4  #a4
 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as
 the ,,dod and ,,usda ,interagency      
,research ,act4  #b4 ,department of     
,defense and ,department of ,agriculture
 joint research and development         
activities  7a7 ,in general ,the        
,secretary of ,defense and the          
,secretary of ,agriculture 7referred to 
in this ,act as the ,secretaries7 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       
defense1 as specified in section #bba of
 the ,department of ,agriculture        
,reorganization ,act of #aiid 7#g       
,u4,s4,c4 #fibb71 including requirements
 and priorities related to national     
security1 agricultural resilience1      
feedstocks for bioindustrial            
manufacturing1 and natural resource     
management4  7b7 ,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 7a74 ,such  
memorandum or agreement shall-- 7#a7    
formalize coordination between the      
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,agriculture on joint    
project activity in the areas specified 
in subsection 7c72  7#b7 require the use
 of a competitive1 merit-reviewed       
process1 which considers applications   
from ,federal agencies1 ,national       

,laboratories1 institutions of higher   
education1 nonprofit institutions1      
industry1 and other appropriate         
entities2  7#c7 provide a framework for 
the ,secretaries to enter into          
public-private partnerships under       
which-- 7,a7 the ,secretaries may make  
grants for the purposes of this ,act2   
and  7,b7 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 involved2  7#d7 where            
appropriate1 leverage existing bilateral
 and multilateral agreements with allies
 and partners2  7#e7 ensure that        
activities carried out under subsection 
7a7 focus on the research and           
development of technologies and tools   
that are-- 7,a7 characterized by        
high-payoff potential2  7,b7 designed to
 prepare for1 prevent1 protect against1 
or mitigate current or projected threats
 to mission requirements and priorities 
delineated under subsection 7a72 and    

7,c7 dependent upon initial ,federal    
investment to incentivize private       
development and broader market adoption2
 and  7#f7 establish a comprehensive    
risk management approach to gauge       
national security implications and      
inform and protect research1 including  
through partner and performer           
engagement1 due diligence processes1    
continual monitoring1 cybersecurity1    
threat awareness and education1 supply  
chain protection1 information sharing1  
and risk mitigation4  7c7 ,coordination 
,in carrying out the activities under   
subsection 7a7 and contingent on        
formally documented and mutually agreed 
upon research security practices1       
polices1 and procedures1 the            
,secretaries shall-- 7#a7 conduct       
collaborative research on-- 7,a7        
engineering1 mechanization1 and         
technological improvements1 including to
 address capacity issues across the     
agrifood supply chain2  7,b7            
agricultural data architecture1         

including for applications of artificial
 intelligence and machine learning to   
agricultural data to optimize           
agricultural and defense systems2  7,c7 
biological sciences1 such as plant1     
animal1 and microbial genetics1 for--   
7i7 natural disaster and weather        
resiliency2  7ii7 biosecurity2  7iii7   
biological1 toxin1 and chemical threat  
mitigation2  7iv7 mitigation of the     
impacts to farmland contiguous to       
military bases of ,department of        
,defense chemical releases through      
activities carried out by the           
,department of ,defense2 and  7v7       
invasive species management2  7,d7      
management strategies for water1 energy1
 soil1 forests1 and food to reduce      
scarcity risks to civilian and military 
operations2  7,e7 supply chain security1
 including feedstocks for bioindustrial 
manufacturing for defense applications1 
such as propellants1 explosives1 fuels1 
and other critical materials and        
precursors2  7,f7 agrifood supply chain 

security to minimize food disruptions1  
promote and protect agriculture as      
critical national infrastructure1 and   
enhance defense logistics for military  
feeding2  7,g7 innovations applicable to
 defense objectives and beneficial to   
rural agricultural economies1           
including-- 7i7 precision agriculture   
technologies2  7ii7 drones2  7iii7      
remote sensing2 and  7iv7 positioning1  
navigation1 and timing capabilities2    
7,h7 operational resilience to1 and     
preparedness for1 natural disasters1    
biosecurity hazards1 and other threats  
to agricultural systems2  7,i7 wildfire 
prediction1 prevention1 and mitigation1 
including research on fuel load         
management1 fire behavior modeling1     
post-fire recovery strategies1 and the  
impact of wildfires on agricultural     
productivity and military readiness2 and
  7,j7 such other topics as the         
,secretaries may determine relevant to  
the mission requirements and priorities 
described in subsection 7a72  7#b7      

promote collaboration and secure        
information sharing with stakeholders   
that are capable of increasing          
market-based adoption of technologies   
developed pursuant to this ,act2  7#c7  
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 sector1 including-- 7,a7 
,federal1 ,state1 local1 and ,tribal    
agencies2  7,b7 relevant authorities at 
the ,department of ,defense1 ,department
 of ,agriculture1 and ,national         
,laboratories2 and  7,c7 institutions of
 higher education1 nonprofit            
institutions1 and industry partners2    
7#d7 ensure that1 where activities      
utilize ,federal data or records from   
agricultural producers1 such data-- 7,a7
 is not subject to disclosure under     
section #eeb of title #e1 ,united       
,states ,code 7commonly known as the    
,freedom of ,information ,act72 and     

7,b7 is not disclosed pursuant to any   
other authority or action of the        
,secretaries2  7#e7 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           
,engineering1 including through the     
,agriculture ,advanced ,research and    
,development ,authority established     
under section #adgc;,h of the ,national 
,agricultural ,research1 ,extension1 and
 ,teaching ,policy ,act of #aigg 7#g    
,u4,s4,c4 #ccaik7 and the ,department of
 ,defense ,office of ,research and      
,engineering1 to address mission        
requirements and priorities delineated  
under subsection 7a72  7#f7 support     
research and workforce development as   
the ,secretaries determine necessary to 
foster innovation in both the           
agricultural and defense sectors1       
including sharing of personnel of the   
,department of ,defense and ,department 
of ,agriculture through the interagency 

exchange program established under      
section #bba of the ,department of      
,agriculture ,reorganization ,act of    
#aiid 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #fibb72 and  7#g7   
conduct applied research1 development1  
and demonstration projects to field-test
 innovations resulting from the         
collaborative research conducted under  
paragraph 7#a71 with the purpose of     
transitioning successful technologies   
into real-world agricultural and defense
 operations to improve effectiveness1   
reduce risks1 and strengthen long-term  
readiness4  7d7 ,agreements ,in carrying
 out the activities under subsection    
7a71 the ,secretaries are authorized    
to-- 7#a7 enter into reimbursable       
agreements between the ,department of   
,defense1 the ,department of            
,agriculture1 and other entities to     
maximize the effectiveness of research  
and development2 and  7#b7 collaborate  
with relevant members of the            
intelligence community and other        
,federal agencies as appropriate4  7e7  

,authority ,to use unobligated funds ,in
 addition to such sums as may be        
appropriated to carry out this ,act1 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     
research1 development1 testing1 and     
evaluation within the ,department of    
,defense4  7f7 ,reporting and oversight 
7#a7 ,annual reports ,not later than one
 year after the date of the enactment of
 this ,act1 and annually thereafter1 the
 ,secretary of ,defense1 in consultation
 with the ,secretary of ,agriculture1   
shall-- 7,a7 submit to the appropriate  
congressional committees a report that  
includes a description of-- 7i7         
interagency coordination between each   
,federal agency involved in the research
 and development activities carried out 
under this section1 which shall include 
a description of the methodology used to

 select such activities for the year    
covered by the report2  7ii7 potential  
opportunities to expand the technical   
capabilities of the ,department of      
,defense and the ,department of         
,agriculture2  7iii7 collaborative      
research achievements and the impact of 
such achievements on national defense   
and agricultural resilience2  7iv7      
research security practices1 policies1  
and procedures implemented in           
conjunction with the activities carried 
out under this ,act2  7v7 expenditures  
for research and development activities 
under this ,act2 and  7vi7 future       
priorities for joint research2 and  7,b7
 make a version of the report available 
to the public1 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 ,agriculture4  7#b7 ,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      
,development1 ,competition1 and         
,innovation ,act 7division ,b of ,public
 ,law #aag-afg2 #db ,u4,s4,c4 #aibca et 
seq471 to ensure research integrity and 
security4  7#c7 ,,gao reviews ,not less 
frequently than once every #e years     
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 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 ,act4  7g7       
,judicial deference ,notwithstanding    
section #gjf of title #e1 ,united       
,states ,code1 a court shall defer to   
the ,secretaries' reasonable            
interpretation of any ambiguous         
provision of this ,act4  7h7            
,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7        
,agriculture and food defense ,the term 
agriculture and food defense has the    

meaning giving that term in section     
#bba7;a7 of the ,department of          
,agriculture ,reorganization ,act of    
#aiid 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #fibb7;a774  7#b7   
,appropriate congressional committees   
,the term appropriate congressional     
committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee  
on ,armed ,services1 the ,committee on  
,agriculture1 and the ,committee on     
,science1 ,space1 and ,technology of the
 ,house of ,representatives2 and  7,b7  
the ,committee on ,armed ,services1 the 
,committee on ,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 
and ,forestry1 and the ,committee on    
,energy and ,natural ,resources of the  
,senate4