Text: HCR00026 Text: HCR00028 Text: HCR00000 - HCR00099 Text: HCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY FREVERT
1 3 A Concurrent Resolution to urge that the United States
1 4 Congress, the United States Department of Agriculture,
1 5 and the United States Department of Justice take all
1 6 actions necessary to ensure competitive markets in the
1 7 meat processing industry, including the suspension of
1 8 mergers of this nation's largest meat processors.
1 9 WHEREAS, large agribusiness concerns are
1 10 increasingly moving to consolidate business operations
1 11 in a manner that reduces competition in the
1 12 marketplace; and
1 13 WHEREAS, less than two years ago, Cargill Inc.
1 14 acquired the grain unit of Continental Grain Co.,
1 15 combining the two largest grain exporters in the
1 16 United States and two of the country's largest
1 17 privately held companies; and
1 18 WHEREAS, Tyson Foods Inc. is considering acquiring
1 19 meat processor IBP Inc., the world's largest supplier
1 20 of fresh beef and pork, for cash and stock, which
1 21 appears to defeat rival suitor Smithfield Foods in a
1 22 bidding battle for the huge beef and pork processor;
1 23 and
1 24 WHEREAS, the acquisition of IBP Inc. by Tyson Foods
1 25 Inc. would triple Tyson's annual sales to an estimated
1 26 $24 billion a year and make it the nation's leading
1 27 poultry, beef, and pork producer in the nation; and
1 28 WHEREAS, a Tyson-IBP merger would create a company
1 29 with 30 percent of the beef market, 33 percent of the
1 30 chicken market, and 18 percent of the pork market; and
2 1 WHEREAS, on September 21, 2000, the United States
2 2 General Accounting Office issued a report finding that
2 3 the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
2 4 Administration (GIPSA) investigative procedures are
2 5 not suited to complex competition-related issues
2 6 associated with the enforcement of the federal Packers
2 7 and Stockyards Act; and
2 8 WHEREAS, the continued concentration of meat
2 9 processors will provide anticompetitive control in the
2 10 meatpacking industry that will stifle or drive out
2 11 competition in markets and at key concentration points
2 12 to the detriment of producers and consumers; and
2 13 WHEREAS, cattle and swine producers may face
2 14 decreased opportunities to market livestock if Tyson
2 15 Foods Inc. forsakes beef or pork processing
2 16 opportunities in favor of extending markets for
2 17 poultry products, including by consolidating or
2 18 closing slaughtering facilities; NOW THEREFORE,
2 19 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE
2 20 SENATE CONCURRING, That the United States Congress
2 21 enact measures to ensure that competition in the meat
2 22 processing industry is not stifled by companies that
2 23 seek monopolistic control of the market, including by
2 24 temporarily suspending regulatory approval of mergers
2 25 for two years.
2 26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That federal agencies,
2 27 including the United States Department of Agriculture
2 28 and the United States Department of Justice, conduct
2 29 reviews and investigations of the meat packing
2 30 industry, including anticompetitive practices and
3 1 antitrust violations.
3 2 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the
3 3 House of Representatives mail copies of this
3 4 resolution to the President of the United States, the
3 5 United States Secretary of Agriculture, the United
3 6 States Attorney General, the President of the Senate
3 7 of the United States, the Speaker of the House of
3 8 Representatives of the United States, the chairman of
3 9 the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture,
3 10 Nutrition, and Forestry, the chairman of the United
3 11 States House of Representatives Committee on
3 12 Agriculture, and members of Iowa's congressional
3 13 delegation.
3 14 LSB 1805HH 79
3 15 da/cf/24.1
Text: HCR00026 Text: HCR00028 Text: HCR00000 - HCR00099 Text: HCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
© 2001 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
Comments about this site or page?
webmaster@legis.iowa.gov.
Please remember that the person listed above does not vote on bills. Direct all comments concerning legislation to State Legislators.
Last update: Wed May 9 09:40:40 CDT 2001
URL: /DOCS/GA/79GA/Legislation/HCR/00000/HCR00027/010323.html
jhf