Food Assurance and Security Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4923 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4923

   To require the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the
Director of the Bureau of the Census, to establish an interagency food
         security measurement program, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 24, 2026

    Ms. Blunt Rochester (for herself and Mr. Lujan) introduced the
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To require the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the
Director of the Bureau of the Census, to establish an interagency food
         security measurement program, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Food Assurance and Security Act''.

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY FOOD SECURITY MEASUREMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this
section as the ``Secretary''), in coordination with the Director of the
Bureau of the Census, shall establish an interagency food security
measurement program, under which the Secretary shall coordinate the
annual collection, analysis, and reporting of data on food insecurity
and hunger, including the food security supplement required under
subsection (b).
    (b) Food Security Supplement.--
            (1) In general.--The Current Population Survey conducted by
        the Bureau of the Census shall include a food security
        supplement consistent with the Current Population Survey Food
        Security Supplement questionnaire issued in 2023 by the Bureau
        of the Census for the Economic Research Service that--
                    (A) includes the questions described in paragraph
                (2) for each Current Population Survey conducted during
                calendar years 2026 through 2028; and
                    (B) as of January 1, 2029, may contain those
                questions or substantially similar questions, subject
                to the condition that any amendments to the questions
                are predicated on robust testing, public input, and
                clearance from the Office of Management and Budget.
            (2) Questions described.--The questions referred to in
        paragraph (1)(A) are the following:
                    (A) Was the answer often, sometimes, or never true
                for you in the last 12 months for each of the
                following:
                            (i) We worried whether our food would run
                        out before we got money to buy more.
                            (ii) The food that we bought just didn't
                        last and we didn't have money to get more.
                            (iii) We couldn't afford to eat balanced
                        meals.
                    (B) In the last 12 months, did you or other adults
                in the household ever cut the size of your meals or
                skip meals because there wasn't enough money for food?
                    (C) If the answer is yes to the previous question,
                how often did this happen--almost every month, some
                months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?
                    (D) In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less
                than you felt you should because there wasn't enough
                money for food?
                    (E) In the last 12 months, were you ever hungry,
                but didn't eat, because there wasn't enough money for
                food?
                    (F) In the last 12 months, did you lose weight
                because there wasn't enough money for food?
                    (G) In the last 12 months, did you or other adults
                in your household ever not eat for a whole day because
                there wasn't enough money for food?
                    (H) If the answer is yes to the previous question,
                how often did this happen--almost every month, some
                months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?
                    (I) In the case of a household that includes
                children ages 0 to 17, the following additional
                questions:
                            (i) Was the answer often, sometimes, or
                        never true for you in the last 12 months for
                        each of the following:
                                    (I) We relied on only a few kinds
                                of low-cost food to feed our children
                                because we were running out of money to
                                buy food.
                                    (II) We couldn't feed our children
                                a balanced meal, because we couldn't
                                afford that.
                                    (III) The children were not eating
                                enough because there wasn't enough
                                money for food.
                            (ii) In the last 12 months, did you ever
                        cut the size of any of the children's meals
                        because there wasn't enough money for food?
                            (iii) In the last 12 months, were the
                        children ever hungry because there wasn't
                        enough money for food?
                            (iv) In the last 12 months, did any of the
                        children ever skip a meal because there wasn't
                        enough money for food?
                            (v) If the answer is yes to the previous
                        question, how often did this happen--almost
                        every month, some months but not every month,
                        or in only 1 or 2 months?
                            (vi) In the last 12 months, did any of the
                        children ever not eat for a whole day because
                        there wasn't enough money for food?
    (c) Annual Report.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress, and
make publicly available on the website of the Department of
Agriculture, an annual report of the data collected under the program
established under subsection (a), including the findings related to the
food security supplement required under subsection (b).
    (d) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as
are necessary to carry out this section.
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