WASHINGTON D.C. — A measure to prevent terrorists from attacking the nation’s food supply has been given a shot in the arm by a strong bipartisan vote in Congress.

 

The Senate has passed amendments to the Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002 aimed at reducing the threat of agriterrorism, two months after the changes were adopted in the House. President Trump is expected to sign the legislation if the bill clears a final review in the House.

The legislation was introduced by Sens. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chair of the Agriculture Committee, and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, in the Senate and Reps. David Young (R-Iowa), Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) and Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.) in the House.

“As former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I understand the unique threat our farmers and ranchers face. As the backbone of the U.S. economy, the spread of any deadly pathogen among our livestock and plant population would be devastating,” Roberts said.

Specifically, the changes direct the assistant secretary for Health Affairs for the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate DHS efforts for defending the food, agriculture and veterinary systems of the United States against terrorism and other events posing a high risk to homeland security. The Office of Health Affairs is the DHS’ principal authority for all medical and health issues. The amendments call for development of a program that provides oversight and management of DHS’ responsibilities as they apply to the defense of agriculture and food and integrate DHS activities related to veterinary public health, food defense and agricultural security.

The additions to the HSA call for the assistant secretary to lead DHS policy initiatives related to food, animal and agricultural incidents and take the lead for preparing and responding to agricultural terrorism. They must coordinate activities with other DHS components related to food and agriculture security and screening procedures for domestic and imported products, and coordinate with appropriate federal departments and agencies.

“A terrorist attack on our agricultural industry or food supply could put countless lives at risk and result in huge economic losses for our state’s farmers and ranchers,” said McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. 

 

The potential for a deadly biological agent being planted in crops and livestock and the devastating results that could have was evident in the sentiments expressed for reaching across party lines to address what many believe is a real threat. “Our nation’s enemies are intent on attacking us by exploiting our resources and vulnerabilities, including our food supply,” said Donovan, chair of the House Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness.

The legislation was introduced by Young to prevent the types of difficulties that happened with communicating effectively and responding quickly at the federal level to the 2015 outbreak of avian influenza, which claimed millions of chickens and turkeys. “This disaster also raised concerns among farmers and producers about whether our nation would be able to quickly and effectively share information and respond to agri-terrorism threats and bio-attacks,” Young explained.

According to the FBI, terrorists have noticed the food supply here is vulnerable to attack, and discovered in the caves of Afghanistan in 2002 were U.S.  Agricultural documents and Al-Qaeda training manuals targeting that sector.