United States-Israel Agriculture Cooperation Improvement and Expansion Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill builds on the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund. Congress finds that the BARD Fund was established in 1977, supports collaborative agricultural research between U.S. and Israeli scientists, has approved more than 1,300 projects with $315 million of investment, and has generated new agricultural practices, commercial engagements, patents, and breeding rights licenses. The bill amends the BARD authority to support collaborative projects in the United States, Israel, Abraham Accords signatories, Arab States that have normalized relations with Israel, and other interested nations, and to support midstage research advancing mutually important U.S.-Israel agricultural projects. It authorizes $8 million per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for BARD Fund activities. It also requires the BARD Fund to establish an accelerator program that fast-tracks cooperative research, accelerates agricultural research development through BARD resources and services, provides management guidance, technical assistance, and consulting to participating scientists, and advances projects of mutual interest to the United States, Israel, or other Abraham Accords signatories, with $12 million per year authorized for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Who Benefits and How
U.S. agricultural researchers, Israeli agricultural researchers, BARD Fund administrators, Abraham Accords partner-country scientists, agricultural technology developers, and food-production innovators benefit from expanded research geography, midstage-research support, technical assistance, and $20 million per year in combined authorizations.
Who Bears the Burden and How
USDA, the BARD Fund, federal appropriators, grant reviewers, and participating researchers must administer expanded eligibility, accelerator priorities, technology-readiness review, consulting support, and fiscal year 2026 through 2030 authorizations.
Key Provisions
- Expands BARD Fund activity to cooperative agricultural research involving the United States, Israel, Abraham Accords signatories, normalized Arab States, and other interested nations.
- Authorizes $8 million per year for BARD Fund activities for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
- Requires a BARD accelerator for midstage agricultural research based on technology readiness level.
- Authorizes the accelerator to fast-track cooperative research, provide management guidance, technical assistance, and consulting to scientists.
- Authorizes $12 million per year for the BARD accelerator for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Expands the United States-Israel BARD Fund by authorizing $8 million yearly for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for cooperative agricultural research with Israel, Abraham Accords signatories, normalized Arab States, and other interested nations, and by creating a $12 million yearly BARD accelerator for midstage agricultural research through fiscal year 2030.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture, Research, Foreign Affairs, Appropriations
Primary Purpose
Expands the United States-Israel BARD Fund by authorizing $8 million yearly for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for cooperative agricultural research with Israel, Abraham Accords signatories, normalized Arab States, and other interested nations, and by creating a $12 million yearly BARD accelerator for midstage agricultural research through fiscal year 2030.
Policy Domains
Bill-wide scope
Identified Gains
- U.S. agricultural researchers
- Israeli agricultural researchers
- BARD Fund administrators
- Abraham Accords partner-country scientists
- Agricultural technology developers
Identified Costs
- USDA
- Federal appropriators
- Grant reviewers
- Participating researchers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Mr. Vindman introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Abraham Accords partner-country scientists, Agricultural technology developers, BARD Fund administrators
BARD Fund administrators faces effects in multiple directions
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "BARD Fund"
- → United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund
- "primary_beneficiaries"
- → U.S. agricultural researchers, Israeli agricultural researchers, BARD Fund administrators, Abraham Accords partner-country scientists, Agricultural technology developers
- "primary_burden_bearers"
- → USDA, Federal appropriators, Grant reviewers, Participating researchers
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology