Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Act of 2018”.
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Act of 2018
A BILL
To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to rename the Department of Agriculture.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds that—
the Department of Agriculture is the primary Federal agency dedicated to improving the economy and quality of life in rural areas of the United States;
the Department of Agriculture provides significant financial resources and technical assistance to rural communities, including loans, loan guarantees, and grants to help support economic development in rural areas of the United States;
the United States has a substantial interest in ensuring that the nearly 45,000,000 individuals in the United States living in rural communities have access to critical infrastructure, broadband, telecommunications connectivity, capital, health care, and other essential resources; and
renaming the Department of Agriculture the “Department of Agriculture and Rural Development” would—
further establish the importance of rural development to the mission of the Department; and
raise awareness in rural areas of the United States of the essential role the Department has in supporting rural communities throughout the United States.
Sec. 3 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
In general— Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“221. Renaming as Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
“(a) In general
“(1) Department—The Department of Agriculture shall be known and designated as the “Department of Agriculture and Rural Development”.
“(2) Secretary—The Secretary of Agriculture shall be known and designated as the “Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development”.
“(b) References—Except as provided in subsection (c), any reference to the Department of Agriculture or the Secretary of Agriculture in any law, regulation, map, document, record, or other paper of the United States shall be deemed to be a reference to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, respectively.
“(c) Limitation on application—The renaming of the Department of Agriculture and the Secretary of Agriculture under this section shall not apply to any acronyms used before the date of enactment of this section by the Secretary for the purposes of labeling.”
Authority— Section 296(b) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(9) The authority of the Secretary to carry out section 221.”