A bill to provide for Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture joint research and development activities, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4607 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4607 To provide for Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture joint research and development activities, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 20, 2026 Mr. Banks (for himself and Mr. Budd) introduced the following bill; 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 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 in this Act 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 coo