Texas Agricultural Producers Assistance Act
Texas Agricultural Producers Assistance Act is a simple reporting bill. It requires the Secretary of Agriculture to prepare and submit within 180 days a report to Congress detailing every USDA authority and program that could provide assistance to Texas agricultural producers who have suffered economic losses because Mexico did not deliver water under the longstanding 1944 water treaty and its 1944 protocol. The purpose is to map out what help already exists or could be made available, rather than to create new funding or directly provide aid. The report would be sent to the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, giving Congress a clear picture of available tools and potential gaps in support.
Key Points
- 1The bill establishes a 180-day deadline for the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a report to Congress.
- 2The report focuses on agricultural producers in Texas who incurred losses due to Mexico’s failure to deliver water as required by the 1944 Treaty Relating to the Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande and the 1944 Supplementary Protocol.
- 3The report must list all existing USDA authorities and programs that could provide assistance to those Texas producers.
- 4The report should also consider authorities and programs within USDA that could be made available to provide such assistance.
- 5This is a planning/oversight measure. It does not create new funding or immediately authorize new benefits; it catalogues options and potential pathways for relief.