[Report No. 119–813]
June 23, 2026
Mr. Strong introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
September 10, 2026
Additional sponsor: Mr. Kennedy of New York
September 10, 2026
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
To require the Department of Homeland Security to conduct an exercise related to agroterrorism, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Civil Preparedness for Agroterrorism Exercise Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Exercise on agroterrorism
(a) In general
In addition to, or as part of exercise programs currently carried out by the Department of Homeland Security, to enhance domestic preparedness for and collective response to terrorism, promote the dissemination of homeland security information, and test the security posture of the United States, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through appropriate offices and components of the Department and in coordination with the heads of appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall, not later than four years after the date of the enactment of this section, conduct an exercise related to the prevention, response to, recovery from, and mitigation of an act of agroterrorism.
(b) Exercise requirements
The exercise required under subsection (a) shall—
(1)
include a scenario involving—
(A)
developing preparedness for agroterrorists attempting to unlawfully transport into the United States a biological agent capable of adversely affecting the operations of—
(i)
the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector; or
(ii)
other related economic sectors;
(B)
developing preparedness for agroterrorists deploying within the United States a biological agent capable of adversely affecting the operations of—
(i)
the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector; or
(ii)
other related economic sectors; and
(C)
collective action by participants to determine the most effective response in managing and mitigating the effects of widespread disruption to the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector or other related economic sectors as a result of agroterrorism, including through—
(i)
effectively deploying incident command involving the entities specified in paragraph (2);
(ii)
identifying key resources necessary to respond to, and recover from, and mitigate widespread disruption of the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector or other related economic sectors as a result of agroterrorism; and
(iii)
determining an efficient and effective allocation of such key resources, and addressing capability and capacity gaps at all levels of government; and
(2)
include coordination with appropriate—
(A)
Federal departments and agencies;
(B)
State, local, Tribal, and territorial agencies;
(C)
private sector owners and operators of—
(i)
food and agricultural facilities;
(ii)
other components of the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector; and
(iii)
components of other related economic sectors;
(D)
representatives of and practitioners from the emergency preparedness and response community; and
(E)
other stakeholders in, and subject matter experts of, the defense of the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector from agroterrorism.
(c) Report
Not later than 180 days after the completion of the exercise required under subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with the protection of classified information, submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an after-action report that contains the following:
(1)
The findings of such exercise, together with associated plans and a timeline for incorporating lessons learned into future operations of the Department of Homeland Security to counter and deter agroterrorism.
(2)
Recommended legislative actions for improving the security posture of the United States and the future operations of the Department to counter and deter agroterrorism.
(d) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Agroterrorism
The term agroterrorism
means an act of terrorism (as such term is defined in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101)) that threatens to target or targets the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector of the United States.
(2) Agroterrorist
The term agroterrorist
means any actor who commits an act of agroterrorism.
(3) Biological agent
The term biological agent
has the meaning given such term in section 178 of title 18, United States Code.
(4) Critical infrastructure
The term critical infrastructure
has the meaning given such term in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)).