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This week, U.S. Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., Tom Cotton, R-AR, and Elissa Slotkin, D-MI, reintroduced the Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act.
This legislation would direct the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to “periodically assess cybersecurity threats to, and vulnerabilities in, the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector” and “to provide recommendations to enhance their security and resilience.” The bill also outlines plans for an annual “cross-sector simulation exercise relating to a food-related emergency or disruption.” One million dollars would be appropriated each year over a five year period to carry out these simulations.
The Secretary of Agriculture would be responsible for reporting the findings from these various assessments to the Agriculture and Homeland Security Committees in both the House and Senate.
“I will always fight to protect Alabama and America’s agriculture industry. Food security is national security and recognizing that requires our farmland be protected from foreign adversaries, like China. It is absolutely imperative we work diligently to identify any cyber threats to America’s agriculture communities that feed and clothe our state, nation, and world,” Britt said in an official press release.
Senators Cotton and Slotkin echoed Britt’s statement.
“America’s adversaries are seeking to gain any advantage they can against us—including targeting critical industries like agriculture. Congress must work with the Department of Agriculture to identify and defeat these cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This legislation will ensure we are prepared to protect the supply chains our farmers and all Americans rely on,” said Sen. Cotton.
“Food security is national security, and the Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act is a vital step toward safeguarding Michigan’s agriculture and food sectors,” said Senator Slotkin. “Cyber attacks threaten our food supply constantly, and we must ensure both government and private industries are prepared. This bipartisan bill will require the Department of Agriculture to work closely with our national security agencies to ensure that our adversaries, like China, can’t threaten our ability to feed ourselves by ourselves.”
U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad, R-MN, also introduced companion legislation to the Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Britt has been an outspoken proponent of limiting foreign involvement in American affairs — and in American agriculture in particular — since the beginning of the 119th Congress.
In addition to supporting the Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act, Britt also recently joined her Republican colleagues in the Senate to reintroduce the Not One More Inch or Acre Act. The legislation would effectively prevent Chinese individuals and businesses from owning American land.
Sen. Britt is also a co-sponsor of the Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act introduced earlier this year by U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and John Fetterman, D-PA. The FARM Act ostensibly looks to limit foreign investment in American farmland by adding the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States.
