Sec. 12203. USDA Ombudsperson
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Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 6912 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: The Secretary shall establish in the Department the position of USDA Ombudsperson (referred to in this section as the Ombudsperson ), which shall be a career reserved position (as defined in section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code) in the Senior Executive Service. The Secretary shall take appropriate actions to ensure the independence of the Ombudsperson within the Department, including ensuring that the Ombudsperson shall be independent of other Department agencies and offices.
The Ombudsperson shall have— a background in civil rights and agriculture; and comprehensive knowledge of or experience working with the Department. The functions of the Ombudsperson shall be— to assist farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners with navigating agencies and offices within the Department, including— the civil rights offices within the farm production and conservation mission area and the Forest Service; and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights; to work with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights to review progress of complaints referred by the Ombudsperson; to track the response of the Department to, and the progress of the Department with respect to implementing, recommendations made by Department advisory committees, including— the Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers; the Tribal Advisory Committee; and the Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers; and to ensure that the functions performed by the Ombudsperson are complementary to existing functions within the Department.
The Ombudsperson shall refer to the Office of the Inspector General of the Department systemic issues that may affect the program delivery by the Department to members of protected classes. The Ombudsperson shall refer individual complaints of discrimination to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights for processing. Not later than January 31, 2025, and annually thereafter, the Ombudsperson shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives, without prior comment or amendment from the Secretary or any other officer or employee of the Department, or any officer or employee of the Office of Management and Budget, a report that describes the activities of the Ombudsperson during the preceding fiscal year, including— the number of program complaints received by the Ombudsperson; the number of program complaints referred to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights by the Ombudsperson; and the final determinations of the complaints described in subparagraphs
(A)and (B). The annual report described in paragraph
(1)shall be made publicly available on the website of the Department. There is appropriated, out of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $10,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to carry out this section, to remain available until expended. In addition to amounts otherwise made available, there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029, to remain available until expended. . Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by redesignating section 225 ( 7 U.S.C. 6925 ) (relating to the Food Access Liaison) as section 224A.
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