National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 376 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2695 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for the defense of United States agriculture and food through the National Bio and Agro- Defense Facility, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 24, 2019 Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. MORAN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. ERNST, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. THUNE, Mr. SHELBY, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. TESTER, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CASEY, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agri- culture, Nutrition, and Forestry DECEMBER 17, 2019 Reported by Mr. ROBERTS, with amendments [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for the defense of United States agriculture and food through the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2695 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Bio and 2 Agro-Defense Facility Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) ANIMAL.—The term ‘‘animal’’ has the 6 meaning given the term in section 10403 of the Ani- 7 mal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8302). 8 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of Agriculture. 10 (3) TRANSBOUNDARY DISEASE.—The term 11 ‘‘transboundary disease’’ has the meaning given the 12 term in section 12203(a) of the Agriculture Im- 13 provement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 8914(a)). 14 (4) VETERINARY COUNTERMEASURE.—The 15 term ‘‘veterinary countermeasure’’ has the meaning 16 given the term in section 10403 of the Animal 17 Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8302). 18 SEC. 3. NATIONAL BIO AND AGRO-DEFENSE FACILITY. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out the 20 relevant responsibilities of the Secretary under Homeland 21 Security Presidential Directive 9 (relating to the defense 22 of United States agriculture and food) and the national 23 biodefense strategy developed under section 1086 of the 24 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 25 (6 U.S.C. 104) by acting, as appropriate, through the Na- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2695 RS tional Bio and Agro-Defense Facility as a national secu- 1 rity laboratory asset of the national biodefense enterprise 2 to provide integrated research, development, and test and 3 evaluation infrastructure for defending against bio- and 4 agro-terrorism threats. 5 (b) DUTIES.—Pursuant to subsection (a), the Sec- 6 retary shall use the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facil- 7 ity— 8 (1) to integrate agricultural, zoonotic disease, 9 and public health research; 10 (2) to address threats from human pathogens, 11 high-consequence zoonotic disease agents, emerging 12 foreign animal diseases, and animal transboundary 13 diseases; 14 (3) to address biological incidence threats; 15 (4) to provide training; and 16 (5) to coordinate, partner, and share data and 17 information with the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 18 rity, including the support of the production of bio- 19 logical material threat assessments. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Bio and Agro-Defense 21 Facility shall be a national security laboratory asset to pro- 22 vide integrated research, development, test and evaluation 23 infrastructure, and response capabilities for defending the 24 United States against bio- and agro-terrorism threats. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2695 RS (b) DUTIES.—Pursuant to subsection (a), the Sec- 1 retary, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary 2 of Health and Human Services, and the heads of other ap- 3 propriate Federal departments and agencies shall use the 4 National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to protect the food 5 supply, agriculture, and public health of the United States, 6 including by— 7 (1) integrating agricultural, zoonotic disease, 8 and other appropriate research; 9 (2) addressing threats from high-consequence 10 zoonotic disease agents, emerging foreign animal dis- 11 eases, and animal transboundary diseases; 12 (3) addressing biological incidence threats; 13 (4) providing appropriate education and train- 14 ing to address bio- and agro-defense threats and re- 15 sponses; 16 (5) sharing data and related information with 17 appropriate Federal departments or agencies, as re- 18 quested by the heads of those departments or agencies, 19 or as necessary, to support the production of biologi- 20 cal material threat assessments; and 21 (6) coordinating, partnering, and sharing data 22 and related information to enhance the carrying out 23 of the duties of the National Bio and Agro-Defense 24 Facility for the development of priority zoonotic ani- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2695 RS mal disease diagnostics, vaccines, drugs, and other 1 countermeasures. 2 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 3 Pursuant to section 3, the Secretary shall carry out 4 research and development objectives— 5 Pursuant to section 3, the Secretary, the Secretary of 6 Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and Human 7 Services, and the heads of other appropriate Federal depart- 8 ments and agencies shall continually establish shared prior- 9 ities for the research to be conducted in the National Bio 10 and Agro-Defense Facility and carry out research and de- 11 velopment objectives at the National Bio and Agro-Defense 12 Facility— 13 (1) to develop veterinary countermeasures for 14 emerging foreign animal diseases and animal trans- 15 boundary diseases; 16 (2) to provide advance advanced test, diag- 17 nostic, and evaluation capability for threat detection, 18 vulnerability assessment, and veterinary counter- 19 measure assessment for animal and zoonotic dis- 20 eases; and 21 (3) for such other purposes as the Secretary de- 22 termines to be appropriate. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2695 RS SEC. 5. EVALUATION. 1 Pursuant to section 4, not less frequently than bien- 2 nially, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary 3 of Homeland Security and the heads of other relevant 4 agencies, shall evaluate and update the strategic research 5 plan for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility based 6 on risk and threat assessments. 7 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF DATA. 8 (a) CONGRESSIONAL REPORT.—Every 6 months until 9 diseases; 10 (3) to assist, as appropriate, with the develop- 11 ment, and address vulnerability assessments, of the 12 agriculture and food sectors; and 13 (4) for such other purposes as the Secretary, in 14 consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 15 rity, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 16 and the heads of other appropriate Federal depart- 17 ments and agencies, determines to be appropriate. 18 SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND PLAN. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to section 4, not less fre- 20 quently than biennially, the Secretary, in coordination with 21 the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of 22 Health and Human Services, and the heads of other appro- 23 priate Federal departments and agencies, shall— 24 (1) evaluate the work of the National Bio and 25 Agro-Defense Facility; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2695 RS (2) publish a strategic research plan for the Na- 1 tional Bio and Agro-Defense Facility based on risk 2 and threat assessments; and 3 (3) submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- 4 trition, and Forestry of the Senate, the Committee on 5 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 6 Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 7 and Pensions of the Senate, the Committee on Agri- 8 culture of the House of Representatives, the Com- 9 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep- 10 resentatives, and the Committee on Energy and Com- 11 merce of the House of Representatives the strategic re- 12 search plan described in paragraph (2). 13 (b) CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—The strategic research 14 plan required under subsection (a)(2)— 15 (1) shall be published in an unclassified format 16 that is publically available; 17 (2) shall be submitted under subsection (a)(3) in 18 unclassified form; and 19 (3) may include in the submission under sub- 20 section (a)(3) a classified annex for any sensitive or 21 classified information, as necessary. 22 SEC. 6. MEMORANDA OF AGREEMENT. 23 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 24 this Act, the Secretary shall enter into memoranda of agree- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2695 RS ment with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Sec- 1 retary of Health and Human Services, and the heads of 2 other appropriate Federal departments and agencies for the 3 use, operation, and research of the National Bio and Agro- 4 Defense Facility by those Secretaries and department and 5 agency heads. 6 SEC. 7. AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND CONGRESSIONAL 7 BRIEFINGS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Every 6 months until the date de- 9 scribed in subsection (b), the Secretary and the Secretary 10 of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall submit pro- 11 vide to the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 12 Forestry and Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 13 fairs of the Senate and the Committees on Agriculture and 14 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a re- 15 port and briefing describing— 16 (1) progress under each phase described in the 17 memorandum of agreement entitled ‘‘Memorandum 18 of Agreement Between the U.S. Department of Agri- 19 culture Marketing and Regulatory Programs, the 20 U.S. Department of Agriculture Research, Edu- 21 cation, and Economics, and the Department of 22 Homeland Security Science and Technology Direc- 23 torate’’ and dated June 20, 2019, that is not com- 24 pleted as of the date of enactment of this Act; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2695 RS (2) the operations and mission, including co- 1 ordination, under any successor memorandum of 2 agreement, or similar joint agreement or under- 3 standing, between the Department of Agriculture 4 (2) the status of completion of the memoranda of 5 agreement under section 6; and 6 (3) the operations and mission of the National 7 Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, including the coordi- 8 nation and carrying out of— 9 (A) the memoranda of agreement described 10 in paragraphs (1) and (2); 11 (B) any successor memoranda of agreement 12 to the memoranda of agreement described in 13 paragraphs (1) and (2); or 14 (C) any similar joint agreement or under- 15 standing between the Department of Agriculture 16 and the Department of Homeland Security, or 17 other relevant agencies, that documents the bio- 18 defense mission of the National Bio and Agro- 19 Defense Facility. 20 (b) TERMINATION.—The reporting requirement and 21 briefing requirements under subsection (a) shall terminate 22 on the date that is 2 5 years after the date on which the 23 National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility attains full oper- 24 ating capability. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2695 RS (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 1 on the date of enactment of this Act. 2 SEC. 7. EFFECT. 3 SEC. 8. BUDGET AND REPORT. 4 (a) BUDGET.—Concurrently with each budget submis- 5 sion to the Director of the Office of Management and Budg- 6 et, the Secretary, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and 7 the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall jointly 8 submit to the Director of the Office of Management and 9 Budget an integrated budget plan for the defense of the 10 United States food system, including the operation and use 11 of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. 12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 13 on which the budget of the United States Government is 14 submitted by the President under section 1105 of title 31, 15 United States Code, for each fiscal year, the Secretary, the 16 Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of 17 Health and Human Services shall jointly submit to Con- 18 gress a report describing an integrated budget plan de- 19 scribed in subsection (a), which shall be consistent with the 20 budget submission of the President under that section for 21 the defense of the United States food system, including the 22 operation and use of the National Bio and Agro-Defense 23 Facility. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2695.RS S2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2695 RS SEC. 9. EFFECT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act requires the 2 Secretary to have administrative jurisdiction over responsi- 3 bility for operations of the National Bio and Agro-Defense 4 Facility. 5 (b) TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION.—If administrative 6 jurisdiction over responsibility for operations of the Na- 7 tional Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is transferred from 8 the Secretary to another Federal agency, any reference in 9 this Act (other than section 6 7) to the Secretary shall 10 be deemed to be a reference to the head of that Federal 11 agency. 12 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 13 Except for section 6, this Act shall take effect on the 14 date on which all phases in the memorandum of agreement 15 described in section 6(a)(1) are completed. 16 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 18 (b), this Act shall take effect on the date on which the initial 19 operating capability described in the memorandum of 20 agreement described in section 7(a)(1) takes effect. 21 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Sections 7 and 8 shall take effect 22 on the date of enactment of this Act. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]