I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 6351
To establish the Commission on National Agricultural Statistics Service Mod-
ernization to modernize the data collection and reporting processes of
the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER9, 2023
Mr. M
OOREof Alabama (for himself and Mr. LANGWORTHY) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To establish the Commission on National Agricultural Statis-
tics Service Modernization to modernize the data collec-
tion and reporting processes of the National Agricultural
Statistics Service, 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
SECTION 1. COMMISSION ON NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL 3
STATISTICS SERVICE MODERNIZATION. 4
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established a com-5
mission to be known as the Commission on National Agri-6
cultural Statistics Service Modernization (referred to in 7
this section as the ‘‘Commission’’). 8
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6351.IH H6351
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 6351 IH
(b) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a study 1
of the National Agricultural Statistics Service and provide 2
recommendations on— 3
(1) how data collection can be modernized and 4
streamlined to— 5
(A) improve the quality of statistics re-6
ported; 7
(B) account for differences of national, re-8
gional, and local production; 9
(C) accelerate adoption of new and innova-10
tive technologies to reduce the number of sur-11
veys needed; 12
(D) improve producer response rates in 13
statistical surveys and identifying ways to re-14
duce survey fatigue; 15
(E) increase transparency and confidence 16
in statistical reports through improved collabo-17
ration with agricultural stakeholders; and 18
(F) use more real-time statistical and envi-19
ronmental data to complement existing survey- 20
based data and reporting; and 21
(2) how the modernization and streamlining de-22
termined under paragraph (1) can be implemented 23
and the estimated costs of such implementation. 24
(c) M
EMBERSHIP.— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6351.IH H6351
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 6351 IH
(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall con-1
sist of the following 11 members: 2
(A) The Administrator of the National Ag-3
ricultural Statistics Service of the Department 4
of Agriculture. 5
(B) The Administrator of the Economic 6
Research Service of the Department of Agri-7
culture. 8
(C) The Chief Economist of the Depart-9
ment of Agriculture. 10
(D) The Chair of the World Agricultural 11
Outlook Board of the Department of Agri-12
culture. 13
(E) A representative from the Bureau of 14
Labor Statistics. 15
(F) 3 members appointed by the Com-16
mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 17
of the Senate, of which— 18
(i) 1 shall be appointed by the Chair-19
man of the Committee; 20
(ii) 1 shall be appointed by the Rank-21
ing Member of the Committee; and 22
(iii) 1 shall be appointed jointly by the 23
Chairman and Ranking Member of the 24
Committee. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6351.IH H6351
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 6351 IH
(G) 3 members appointed by the Com-1
mittee on Agriculture of the House of Rep-2
resentatives, of which— 3
(i) 1 shall be appointed by the Chair-4
man of the Committee; 5
(ii) 1 shall be appointed by the Rank-6
ing Member of the Committee; and 7
(iii) 1 shall be appointed jointly by the 8
Chairman and Ranking Member of the 9
Committee. 10
(2) D
ATE OF APPOINTMENTS .—The appoint-11
ment of all members of the Commission shall be 12
made not later than 60 days after the date of enact-13
ment of this Act. 14
(3) T
ERM; VACANCIES.— 15
(A) T
ERM.—A member shall be appointed 16
for the duration of the Commission. 17
(B) V
ACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Com-18
mission— 19
(i) shall not affect the powers of the 20
Commission; and 21
(ii) shall be filled in the same manner 22
as the original appointment was made. 23
(4) I
NITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 60 days 24
after the date on which all members of the Commis-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6351.IH H6351
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 6351 IH
sion have been first appointed, the Commission shall 1
hold the initial meeting of the Commission. 2
(d) Q
UORUM.—A majority of the members of the 3
Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 4
of business, but a lesser number of members may hold 5
hearings. 6
(e) C
HAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Commis-7
sion shall be selected by a majority of the Members of 8
the Commission. 9
(f) R
EPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 10
of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 11
the President, the Committee on Agriculture of the House 12
of Representatives, and the Committee on Agriculture, 13
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report containing 14
the results of the study required by subsection (b), includ-15
ing— 16
(1) an inventory of surveys conducted by the 17
National Agricultural Statistics Service and the fre-18
quency with which they are conducted; and 19
(2) such recommendations for administrative, 20
regulatory, and legislative changes as the Commis-21
sion considers appropriate. 22
(g) H
EARINGS.—The Commission shall hold such 23
hearings, meet and act at such times and places, take such 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6351.IH H6351
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
•HR 6351 IH
testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 1
considers appropriate to carry out this section. 2
(h) S
TAKEHOLDERENGAGEMENT.—The Commission 3
shall establish a process to collect feedback from agricul-4
tural stakeholders to inform the results of the study re-5
quired under subsection (b) and the report required under 6
subsection (f). 7
(i) I
NFORMATIONFROMFEDERALAGENCIES.— 8
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Commission may secure 9
directly from a Federal agency such information as 10
the Commission considers necessary to carry out this 11
section. 12
(2) A
UTHORITY TO REQUEST INFORMATION .— 13
At the request of the Chairperson of the Commission 14
for information described in paragraph (1), the head 15
of a Federal agency shall provide such information 16
to the Commission. 17
(j) P
OSTALSERVICES.—The Commission may use 18
the United States mail in the same manner and under the 19
same conditions as other agencies of the Federal Govern-20
ment. 21
(k) A
SSISTANCEFROM THESECRETARY.—The Sec-22
retary of Agriculture shall provide to the Commission ap-23
propriate office space and such reasonable administrative 24
and support services as the Commission may request. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6351.IH H6351
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
•HR 6351 IH
(l) COMPENSATION OFMEMBERS.— 1
(1) N
ON-FEDERAL EMPLOYEES .—A member of 2
the Commission who is not an officer or employee of 3
the Federal Government shall be compensated at a 4
rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate 5
of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive 6
Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 7
States Code, for each day (including travel time) 8
during which the member is engaged in the perform-9
ance of the duties of the Commission. 10
(2) F
EDERAL EMPLOYEES .—A member of the 11
Commission who is an officer or employee of the 12
Federal Government shall serve without compensa-13
tion in addition to the compensation received for the 14
services of the member as an officer or employee of 15
the Federal Government. 16
(3) T
RAVEL EXPENSES .—A member of the 17
Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ-18
ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author-19
ized for an employee of an agency under subchapter 20
I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 21
away from the home or regular place of business of 22
the member in the performance of the duties of the 23
Commission. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6351.IH H6351
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
•HR 6351 IH
(m) FEDERALADVISORYCOMMITTEEACT.—Sec-1
tions 1008 and 1013 of title 5, United States Code, shall 2
not apply to the Commission or any proceeding of the 3
Commission. 4
(n) T
ERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 5
on September 30, 2028. 6
(o) F
UNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-7
priated to carry out this section $1,000,000 for fiscal year 8
2024, to remain available until expended. 9
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6351.IH H6351
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB