(NAFB) – A Group of House Representatives this week introduced the Agricultural Intelligence Measures Act.

The bill would establish an Office of Intelligence within the Department of Agriculture. The lawmakers say the office would utilize the intelligence community to ensure the Secretary of Agriculture is fully informed of all imminent threats to American agriculture. The highly specialized office would work to understand any efforts to steal U.S. agriculture knowledge and technology and develop or implement biological warfare attacks, cyber or clandestine operations, or other means of sabotaging and disrupting the agriculture industry.

Introducing the bill, Arkansas Republican Representative Rick Crawford states, “the complex supply chain and invaluable nature of the agriculture industry means it is particularly vulnerable.” Crawford adds that “Agriculture security is national security,” calling the legislation a critical first step to safer food, farms and a safer future.

Co-sponsor, Ohio Republican Representative Mike Turner, adds, the legislation “will help safeguard the agriculture industry” from foreign and domestic threats.