Text: SCR00008 Text: SCR00010 Text: SCR00000 - SCR00099 Text: SCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. ___
1 2 COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
1 3 (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1188)
1 4 A Concurrent Resolution relating to the livestock
1 5 industry, by requesting that the United States
1 6 Congress take actions necessary to stabilize the
1 7 agricultural economy and to request that the
1 8 United States Department of Justice investigate
1 9 unfair practices by meatpackers.
1 10 WHEREAS, agricultural production has traditionally
1 11 been the foundation of this nation's economic
1 12 prosperity, providing the basis for a system of
1 13 production unmatched in the world for its abundant and
1 14 efficient production of food, feed grains, and animal
1 15 products, which contributes billions of dollars in
1 16 revenue each year to the nation's economy from export
1 17 sales; and
1 18 WHEREAS, the production and processing of
1 19 livestock, including swine and cattle, represent key
1 20 components of this nation's prosperity, by providing
1 21 numerous value-added food and other products upon
1 22 which this nation depends; and
1 23 WHEREAS, the state of Iowa is the leading
1 24 livestock-producing state in the nation, with
1 25 production revenue contributing more than 25 percent
1 26 of Iowa family cash farm income; and
1 27 WHEREAS, the livestock industry faces a threat to
1 28 its economic viability, a crisis caused by
1 29 disastrously low prices and a system of marketing that
1 30 increasingly relies on marketing contracts and that
2 1 may be exasperated by inadequate meatpacking capacity
2 2 and suspected unfair practices engaged in by
2 3 meatpackers; and
2 4 WHEREAS, losses of several billions of dollars in
2 5 1998 may force thousands of family farm livestock
2 6 producers out of business and may threaten the
2 7 cherished position of the small independent producer
2 8 in the agricultural economy; and
2 9 WHEREAS, the practice of contract care and feeding
2 10 of swine and cattle is contrary to the traditional
2 11 system of the open market's universal price disclosure
2 12 that most efficiently ensures that price is a product
2 13 of supply and demand; NOW THEREFORE,
2 14 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF
2 15 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, That the United States
2 16 Congress is requested to approve emergency financial
2 17 assistance payments to family farm swine and cattle
2 18 producers and funding for loan guarantee programs and
2 19 interest rate buydown programs administered by the
2 20 United States Department of Agriculture; and
2 21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the United States
2 22 Congress, the President of the United States, and the
2 23 United States Secretary of Agriculture take all
2 24 necessary actions in order to study the marketing
2 25 practices of meatpackers, including obtaining
2 26 information regarding marketing contracts executed
2 27 between meatpackers and producers, and that the United
2 28 States Department of Agriculture prepare a report
2 29 regarding the information and its findings for
2 30 publication; and
3 1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the United States
3 2 Congress, the President of the United States, and the
3 3 United States Secretary of Agriculture, and the United
3 4 States Department of Justice cooperate in order to
3 5 amend the current federal Packers and Stockyards Act
3 6 to address current market practices by meatpackers and
3 7 pursue antitrust actions as necessary; and
3 8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this
3 9 Resolution be sent by the Secretary of the Senate to
3 10 the President of the United States; the United States
3 11 Secretary of Agriculture; the Administrator of the
3 12 Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
3 13 Administration, United States Department of
3 14 Agriculture; the President of the Senate of the United
3 15 States; the United States Attorney General; the
3 16 Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United
3 17 States; the Chairperson of the United States Senate
3 18 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; the
3 19 Chairperson of the United States House of
3 20 Representatives Committee on Agriculture; and members
3 21 of Iowa's congressional delegation.
3 22 LSB 3119SV 78
3 23 da/cf/24
Text: SCR00008 Text: SCR00010 Text: SCR00000 - SCR00099 Text: SCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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