To establish an Office of Colonia Affairs within the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2740 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2740

  To establish an Office of Colonia Affairs within the Department of 
                  Agriculture, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 20, 2023

 Ms. Escobar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish an Office of Colonia Affairs within the Department of 
                  Agriculture, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF COLONIA AFFAIRS.

    Title III of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by adding after 
section 309 (7 U.S.C. 6921) the following:

``SEC. 309A. OFFICE OF COLONIA AFFAIRS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall maintain in 
the Office of the Secretary an Office of Colonia Affairs, which shall--
            ``(1) serve as a resource for colonias and localities that 
        have colonias by providing information about, and technical 
        assistance pertaining to, Federal programs and funding sources 
        applicable to colonias;
            ``(2) advise the Secretary on matters pertaining to 
        colonias; and
            ``(3) carry out such other functions as the Secretary 
        considers appropriate.
    ``(b) Reports.--Not less frequently than once every two years, the 
Office of Colonia Affairs shall submit to Congress a report that 
describes--
            ``(1) the infrastructure needs of colonias; and
            ``(2) recommendations for legislative or administrative 
        action for the following two years.
    ``(c) Colonia Defined.--In this section, the term `colonia' means 
any identifiable community that--
            ``(1) is in the State of Arizona, California, New Mexico, 
        or Texas;
            ``(2) is in the area of the United States within 150 miles 
        of the border between the United States and Mexico, except that 
        the term does not include any standard metropolitan statistical 
        area that has a population exceeding 1,000,000; and
            ``(3) is determined by the Secretary to be a colonia on the 
        basis of objective criteria, including lack of potable water 
        supply, lack of adequate sewage systems, and lack of decent, 
        safe, and sanitary housing.''.
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