I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2307
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
MARCH24, 2025
Mr. M
OOREof Alabama (for himself and Mr. DAVISof North Carolina) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture
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
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(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; 18
(F) use more real-time statistical and envi-19
ronmental data to complement existing survey- 20
based data and reporting; and 21
(G) improve collection and generation of 22
timely data on the specialty crop industry; and 23
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(2) how the modernization and streamlining de-1
termined under paragraph (1) can be implemented 2
and the estimated costs of such implementation. 3
(c) M
EMBERSHIP.— 4
(1) C
OMPOSITION.—The Commission shall con-5
sist of the following 11 members: 6
(A) The Administrator of the National Ag-7
ricultural Statistics Service of the Department 8
of Agriculture. 9
(B) The Administrator of the Economic 10
Research Service of the Department of Agri-11
culture. 12
(C) The Chief Economist of the Depart-13
ment of Agriculture. 14
(D) The Chair of the World Agricultural 15
Outlook Board of the Department of Agri-16
culture. 17
(E) A representative from the Bureau of 18
Labor Statistics. 19
(F) 3 members appointed by the Com-20
mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 21
of the Senate, of which— 22
(i) 1 shall be appointed by the Chair-23
man of the Committee; 24
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(ii) 1 shall be appointed by the Rank-1
ing Member of the Committee; and 2
(iii) 1 shall be appointed jointly by the 3
Chairman and Ranking Member of the 4
Committee. 5
(G) 3 members appointed by the Com-6
mittee on Agriculture of the House of Rep-7
resentatives, of which— 8
(i) 1 shall be appointed by the Chair-9
man of the Committee; 10
(ii) 1 shall be appointed by the Rank-11
ing Member of the Committee; and 12
(iii) 1 shall be appointed jointly by the 13
Chairman and Ranking Member of the 14
Committee. 15
(2) D
ATE OF APPOINTMENTS .—The appoint-16
ment of all members of the Commission shall be 17
made not later than 60 days after the date of enact-18
ment of this Act. 19
(3) T
ERM; VACANCIES.— 20
(A) T
ERM.—A member shall be appointed 21
for the duration of the Commission. 22
(B) V
ACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Com-23
mission— 24
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(i) shall not affect the powers of the 1
Commission; and 2
(ii) shall be filled in the same manner 3
as the original appointment was made. 4
(4) I
NITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 60 days 5
after the date on which all members of the Commis-6
sion have been first appointed, the Commission shall 7
hold the initial meeting of the Commission. 8
(d) Q
UORUM.—A majority of the members of the 9
Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 10
of business, but a lesser number of members may hold 11
hearings. 12
(e) C
HAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Commis-13
sion shall be selected by a majority of the Members of 14
the Commission. 15
(f) R
EPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 16
of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 17
the President, the Committee on Agriculture of the House 18
of Representatives, and the Committee on Agriculture, 19
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report containing 20
the results of the study required by subsection (b), includ-21
ing— 22
(1) an inventory of surveys conducted by the 23
National Agricultural Statistics Service and the fre-24
quency with which they are conducted; and 25
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(2) such recommendations for administrative, 1
regulatory, and legislative changes as the Commis-2
sion considers appropriate. 3
(g) H
EARINGS.—The Commission shall hold such 4
hearings, meet and act at such times and places, take such 5
testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 6
considers appropriate to carry out this section. 7
(h) S
TAKEHOLDERENGAGEMENT.—The Commission 8
shall establish a process to collect feedback from agricul-9
tural stakeholders to inform the results of the study re-10
quired under subsection (b) and the report required under 11
subsection (f). 12
(i) I
NFORMATIONFROMFEDERALAGENCIES.— 13
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Commission may secure 14
directly from a Federal agency such information as 15
the Commission considers necessary to carry out this 16
section. 17
(2) A
UTHORITY TO REQUEST INFORMATION .— 18
At the request of the Chairperson of the Commission 19
for information described in paragraph (1), the head 20
of a Federal agency shall provide such information 21
to the Commission. 22
(j) P
OSTALSERVICES.—The Commission may use 23
the United States mail in the same manner and under the 24
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same conditions as other agencies of the Federal Govern-1
ment. 2
(k) A
SSISTANCEFROM THESECRETARY.—The Sec-3
retary of Agriculture shall provide to the Commission ap-4
propriate office space and such reasonable administrative 5
and support services as the Commission may request. 6
(l) C
OMPENSATION OFMEMBERS.— 7
(1) N
ON-FEDERAL EMPLOYEES .—A member of 8
the Commission who is not an officer or employee of 9
the Federal Government shall be compensated at a 10
rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate 11
of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive 12
Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 13
States Code, for each day (including travel time) 14
during which the member is engaged in the perform-15
ance of the duties of the Commission. 16
(2) F
EDERAL EMPLOYEES .—A member of the 17
Commission who is an officer or employee of the 18
Federal Government shall serve without compensa-19
tion in addition to the compensation received for the 20
services of the member as an officer or employee of 21
the Federal Government. 22
(3) T
RAVEL EXPENSES .—A member of the 23
Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ-24
ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author-25
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ized for an employee of an agency under subchapter 1
I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 2
away from the home or regular place of business of 3
the member in the performance of the duties of the 4
Commission. 5
(m) F
EDERALADVISORYCOMMITTEEACT.—Sec-6
tions 1008 and 1013 of title 5, United States Code, shall 7
not apply to the Commission or any proceeding of the 8
Commission. 9
(n) T
ERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 10
on September 30, 2030. 11
(o) F
UNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-12
priated to carry out this section $1,000,000 for fiscal year 13
2026, to remain available until expended. 14
Æ
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