II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1222

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to provide trade adjustment assistance

to farmers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 15, 1999

Mr. CONRAD (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. DASCHLE, and Mr. BAUCUS)

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the

Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to provide trade

adjustment assistance to farmers.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trade Adjustment As5 sistance for Farmers Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FARMERS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Trade Act of 1974

8 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

9 the following new chapter:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE

2 FOR FARMERS

3 ‘‘SEC. 291. DEFINITIONS.

4 ‘‘In this chapter:

5 ‘‘(1) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY PRODUCER.—

6 The term ‘agricultural commodity producer’ means

7 any person who is engaged in the production and

8 sale of an agricultural commodity in the United

9 States and who owns or shares the ownership and

10 risk of loss of the agricultural commodity.

11 ‘‘(2) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—The term

12 ‘agricultural commodity’ means any agricultural

13 commodity (including livestock) in its raw or natural

14 state.

15 ‘‘(3) DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE.—

16 The term ‘duly authorized representative’ means an

17 association of agricultural commodity producers.

18 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL AVERAGE PRICE.—The term

19 ‘national average price’ means the national average

20 price paid to an agricultural commodity producer for

21 an agricultural commodity in a marketing year as

22 determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.

23 ‘‘(5) CONTRIBUTED IMPORTANTLY.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘contributed

25 importantly’ means a cause which is important
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1 but not necessarily more important than any

2 other cause.

3 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF CONTRIBUTED

4 IMPORTANTLY.—The determination of whether

5 imports of articles like or directly competitive

6 with an agricultural commodity with respect to

7 which the petition under this chapter was filed

8 contributed importantly to a decline in the price

9 of the agricultural commodity shall be made by

10 the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary

11 of Agriculture.

12 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

13 the Secretary of Labor.

14 ‘‘SEC. 292. PETITIONS; GROUP ELIGIBILITY.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A petition for a certification of

16 eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under this

17 chapter may be filed with the Secretary by a group of agri18 cultural commodity producers or by their duly authorized

19 representative. Upon receipt of the petition, the Secretary

20 shall promptly publish notice in the Federal Register that

21 the Secretary has received the petition and initiated an

22 investigation.

23 ‘‘(b) HEARINGS.—If the petitioner, or any other per24 son found by the Secretary to have a substantial interest

25 in the proceedings, submits not later than 10 days after
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1 the date of the Secretary’s publication under subsection

2 (a) a request for a hearing, the Secretary shall provide

3 for a public hearing and afford such interested persons

4 an opportunity to be present, to produce evidence, and to

5 be heard.

6 ‘‘(c) GROUP ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—The

7 Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of Agri8 culture, shall certify a group of agricultural commodity

9 producers as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance

10 under this chapter if the Secretary determines—

11 ‘‘(1) that the national average price for the ag12 ricultural commodity, or a class of goods within the

13 agricultural commodity, produced by the group for

14 the most recent marketing year for which the na15 tional average price is available is less than 80 per16 cent of the average of the national average price for

17 such agricultural commodity, or such class of goods,

18 for the 5 marketing years preceding the most recent

19 marketing year; and

20 ‘‘(2) that either—

21 ‘‘(A) increases in imports of articles like or

22 directly competitive with the agricultural com23 modity, or class of goods within the agricultural

24 commodity, produced by the group contributed
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1 importantly to the decline in price described in

2 paragraph (1); or

3 ‘‘(B) imports of articles like or directly

4 competitive with the agricultural commodity, or

5 class of goods within the agricultural com6 modity, produced by the group account for a

7 significant percentage of the domestic market

8 for the agricultural commodity (or class of

9 goods) and have contributed importantly to the

10 decline in price described in paragraph (1).

11 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR QUALIFIED SUBSEQUENT

12 YEARS.—A group of agricultural commodity producers

13 certified as eligible under section 293 shall be eligible to

14 apply for assistance under this chapter in any qualified

15 year after the year the group is first certified, if the Sec16 retary determines that—

17 ‘‘(1) the national average price for the agricul18 tural commodity, or class of goods within the agri19 cultural commodity, produced by the group for the

20 most recent marketing year for which the national

21 average price is available is equal to or less than the

22 price determined under subsection (c)(1); and

23 ‘‘(2) the requirements of subsection (c)(2) (A)

24 or (B) are met.
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1 ‘‘(e) DETERMINATION OF QUALIFIED YEAR AND

2 COMMODITY.—In this chapter:

3 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED YEAR.—The term ‘qualified

4 year’, with respect to a group of agricultural com5 modity producers certified as eligible under section

6 293, means each consecutive year after the year in

7 which the group is certified that the Secretary

8 makes the determination under subsection (c) or (d),

9 as the case may be.

10 ‘‘(2) CLASSES OF GOODS WITHIN A COM11 MODITY.—In any case in which there are separate

12 classes of goods within an agricultural commodity,

13 the Secretary shall treat each class as a separate

14 commodity in determining group eligibility, the na15 tional average price, and level of imports under this

16 section and section 296.

17 ‘‘SEC. 293. DETERMINATIONS BY SECRETARY.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as possible after the

19 date on which a petition is filed under section 292, but

20 in any event not later than 60 days after that date, the

21 Secretary shall determine whether the petitioning group

22 meets the requirements of section 292(c) (or (d), as the

23 case may be) and shall, if so, issue a certification of eligi24 bility to apply for assistance under this chapter covering

25 agricultural commodity producers in any group that meet
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1 the requirements. Each certification shall specify the date

2 on which eligibility under this chapter begins.

3 ‘‘(b) NOTICE.—Upon making a determination on a

4 petition, the Secretary shall promptly publish a summary

5 of the determination in the Federal Register together with

6 the Secretary’s reasons for making the determination.

7 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION OF CERTIFICATION.—Whenever

8 the Secretary determines, with respect to any certification

9 of eligibility under this chapter, that the decline in price

10 for the agricultural commodity covered by the certification

11 is no longer attributable to the conditions described in sec12 tion 292, the Secretary shall terminate such certification

13 and promptly cause notice of such termination to be pub14 lished in the Federal Register together with the Sec15 retary’s reasons for making such determination.

16 ‘‘SEC. 294. STUDY BY SECRETARY WHEN INTERNATIONAL

17 TRADE COMMISSION BEGINS INVESTIGATION.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the International

19 Trade Commission (in this chapter referred to as the

20 ‘Commission’) begins an investigation under section 202

21 with respect to an agricultural commodity, the Commis22 sion shall immediately notify the Secretary of the inves23 tigation. Upon receipt of the notification, the Secretary

24 shall immediately begin a study of—
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1 ‘‘(1) the number of agricultural commodity pro2 ducers producing a like or directly competitive agri3 cultural commodity who have been or are likely to be

4 certified as eligible for adjustment assistance under

5 this chapter, and

6 ‘‘(2) the extent to which the adjustment of such

7 producers to the import competition may be facili8 tated through the use of existing programs.

9 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—The report of the Secretary of the

10 study under subsection (a) shall be made to the President

11 not later than 15 days after the day on which the Commis12 sion makes its report under section 202(f). Upon making

13 his report to the President, the Secretary shall also

14 promptly make it public (with the exception of information

15 which the Secretary determines to be confidential) and

16 shall have a summary of it published in the Federal Reg17 ister.

18 ‘‘SEC. 295. BENEFIT INFORMATION TO AGRICULTURAL

19 COMMODITY PRODUCERS.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide full

21 information to producers about the benefit allowances,

22 training, and other employment services available under

23 this title and about the petition and application proce24 dures, and the appropriate filing dates, for such allow25 ances, training, and services. The Secretary shall provide
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1 whatever assistance is necessary to enable groups to pre2 pare petitions or applications for program benefits under

3 this title.

4 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF BENEFITS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall mail

6 written notice of the benefits available under this

7 chapter to each agricultural commodity producer

8 that the Secretary has reason to believe is covered

9 by a certification made under this chapter.

10 ‘‘(2) OTHER NOTICE.—The Secretary shall pub11 lish notice of the benefits available under this chap12 ter to agricultural commodity producers that are

13 covered by each certification made under this chap14 ter in newspapers of general circulation in the areas

15 in which such producers reside.

16 ‘‘SEC. 296. QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR AGRICUL17 TURAL COMMODITY PRODUCERS.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Payment of a trade adjustment

19 allowance shall be made to an adversely affected agricul20 tural commodity producer covered by a certification under

21 this chapter who files an application for such allowance

22 within 90 days after the date on which the Secretary

23 makes a determination and issues a certification of eligi24 bility under section 293, if the following conditions are

25 met:
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1 ‘‘(1) The producer submits to the Secretary suf2 ficient information to establish the amount of agri3 cultural commodity covered by the application filed

4 under subsection (a), that was produced by the pro5 ducer in the most recent year.

6 ‘‘(2) The producer certifies that the producer

7 has not received cash benefits under any provision of

8 this title other than this chapter.

9 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF CASH BENEFITS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An adversely affected agri11 cultural commodity producer described in subsection

12 (a) shall be entitled to adjustment assistance under

13 this chapter in an amount equal to the product of—

14 ‘‘(A) one-half of the difference between—

15 ‘‘(i) an amount equal to 80 percent of

16 the average of the national average price of

17 the agricultural commodity covered by the

18 application described in subsection (a) for

19 the 5 marketing years preceding the most

20 recent marketing year, and

21 ‘‘(ii) the national average price of the

22 agricultural commodity for the most recent

23 marketing year, and
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1 ‘‘(B) the amount of the agricultural com2 modity produced by the agricultural commodity

3 producer in the most recent marketing year.

4 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR SUBSEQUENT QUALI5 FIED YEARS.—The amount of cash benefits for a

6 qualified year shall be determined in the same man7 ner as cash benefits are determined under paragraph

8 (1) except that the average national price of the ag9 ricultural commodity shall be determined under

10 paragraph (1)(A)(i) by using the 5-marketing-year

11 period used to determine the amount of cash bene12 fits for the first certification.

13 ‘‘(c) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF CASH ASSISTANCE.—

14 The maximum amount of cash benefits an agricultural

15 commodity producer may receive in any 12-month period

16 shall not exceed $10,000.

17 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON OTHER ASSISTANCE.—An ag18 ricultural commodity producer entitled to receive a cash

19 benefit under this chapter—

20 ‘‘(1) shall not be eligible for any other cash

21 benefit under this title, and

22 ‘‘(2) shall be entitled to employment services

23 and training benefits under sections 235 and 236.

24 ‘‘SEC. 297. FRAUD AND RECOVERY OF OVERPAYMENTS.

25 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
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1 ‘‘(1) REPAYMENT.—If the Secretary, or a court

2 of competent jurisdiction, determines that any per3 son has received any payment under this chapter to

4 which the person was not entitled, such person shall

5 be liable to repay such amount to the Secretary, ex6 cept that the Secretary may waive such repayment

7 if the Secretary determines, in accordance with

8 guidelines prescribed by the Secretary that—

9 ‘‘(A) the payment was made without fault

10 on the part of such person, and

11 ‘‘(B) requiring such repayment would be

12 contrary to equity and good conscience.

13 ‘‘(2) RECOVERY OF OVERPAYMENT.—Unless an

14 overpayment is otherwise recovered, or waived under

15 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall recover the over16 payment by deductions from any sums payable to

17 such person under this chapter.

18 ‘‘(b) FALSE STATEMENTS.—If the Secretary, or a

19 court of competent jurisdiction, determines that a

20 person—

21 ‘‘(1) knowingly has made, or caused another to

22 make, a false statement or representation of a mate23 rial fact, or

24 ‘‘(2) knowingly has failed, or caused another to

25 fail, to disclose a material fact,
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1 and as a result of such false statement or representation,

2 or of such nondisclosure, such person has received any

3 payment under this chapter to which the person was not

4 entitled, such person shall, in addition to any other pen5 alty provided by law, be ineligible for any further pay6 ments under this chapter.

7 ‘‘(c) NOTICE AND DETERMINATION.—Except for

8 overpayments determined by a court of competent jurisdic9 tion, no repayment may be required, and no deduction

10 may be made, under this section until a determination

11 under subsection (a)(1) by the Secretary has been made,

12 notice of the determination and an opportunity for a fair

13 hearing thereon has been given to the person concerned,

14 and the determination has become final.

15 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT TO TREASURY.—Any amount recov16 ered under this section shall be returned to the Treasury

17 of the United States.

18 ‘‘(e) PENALTIES.—Whoever makes a false statement

19 of a material fact knowing it to be false, or knowingly fails

20 to disclose a material fact, for the purpose of obtaining

21 or increasing for himself or for any other person any pay22 ment authorized to be furnished under this chapter shall

23 be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not

24 more than 1 year, or both.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 298. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the De3 partment of Labor for fiscal years 2000 through 2004,

4 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes

5 of this chapter.’’.

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con7 tents for title II of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended

8 by inserting after the items relating to chapter 5, the fol9 lowing:

‘‘CHAPTER 6—ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FARMERS

‘‘Sec. 291. Definitions.

‘‘Sec. 292. Petitions; group eligibility.

‘‘Sec. 293. Determinations by Secretary.

‘‘Sec. 294. Study by Secretary when International Trade Commission begins investigation.

‘‘Sec. 295. Benefit information to agricultural commodity producers.

‘‘Sec. 296. Qualifying requirements for agricultural commodity producers.

‘‘Sec. 297. Fraud and recovery of overpayments.

‘‘Sec. 298. Authorization of appropriations.’’.

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