I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 341

To provide economic disaster assistance to producers of the 2002 crop of 

rice in the State of Louisiana. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2003

Mr. JOHN (for himself and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL

To provide economic disaster assistance to producers of the 

2002 crop of rice in the State of Louisiana.

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 ‘‘Louisiana Rice Eco5 nomic Relief Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The rice industry in the State of Louisiana 

9 contributes significantly to the economy of that 

10 State and the United States, with an estimated an-
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1 nual value of approximately $250,000,000 and an 

2 estimated average annual economic benefit of ap3 proximately $1,000,000,000. 

4 (2) For the 2002 crop of rice, rice producers in 

5 the State of Louisiana suffered from the lowest rice 

6 prices in more than 50 years. 

7 (3) Since most of the 2002 crop of rice in the 

8 State of Louisiana was sold during the harvest sea9 son, the market-derived income of producers from 

10 the sale of rice fell to record low levels. 

11 (4) The historically-low income of producers 

12 from the sale of rice in the State of Louisiana, even 

13 when combined with Federal income support, still is 

14 devastating to—

15 (A) rice producers in the State; 

16 (B) the rice industry infrastructure of the 

17 State; 

18 (C) businesses that serve and depend on 

19 the rice industry; and 

20 (D) communities in which rice producers 

21 and their families reside and in which the rice 

22 industry operates. 

23 (5) Because of the significant reduction in total 

24 income and the current costs of production, many 

25 rice producers of the State of Louisiana will not 
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1 cover the total expenses they incurred to produce 

2 and harvest the 2002 crop. 

3 (6) The historically-low prices of the 2002 crop 

4 of rice in the State of Louisiana have contributed to 

5 a combined market price and Federal support in6 come level that is approximately $2.42 per hundred7 weight less than the average combined market price 

8 and Federal support income levels during the 1998 

9 through 2001 period, which is approximately 22 per10 cent below the average income level for the State for 

11 the same time period. 

12 (7) Due to the historically-low rice prices and 

13 reduced income, rice producers in the State of Lou14 isiana and their families are faced with dire eco15 nomic circumstances that are crippling them and the 

16 communities in which they live and work. 

17 SEC. 3. ECONOMIC DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR LOUISIANA 

18 RICE PRODUCERS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall 

20 use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Commodity 

21 Credit Corporation to make payments, as soon as prac22 ticable after the date of enactment of this Act, to pro23 ducers of the 2002 crop of rice on farms located in the 

24 State of Louisiana, to assist producers as a result of the 
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1 disastrous economic conditions occurring with the 2002 

2 crop of rice. 

3 (b) AMOUNT.—The amount of a payment made to 

4 producers on a farm under this section shall be equal to 

5 the product obtained by multiplying—

6 (1) the actual quantity of rice produced by the 

7 producers on the farm during the 2002 crop year; 

8 and 

9 (2) a payment rate of $2.42 per hundredweight. 

10 (c) PAYMENT LIMITATION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The total amount of pay12 ments that a person shall be entitled to receive 

13 under this section may not exceed $40,000. 

14 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro15 mulgate regulations defining the term ‘‘person’’ for 

16 the purposes of paragraph (1), which shall conform, 

17 to the maximum extent practicable, to the regula18 tions defining the term ‘‘person’’ promulgated under 

19 section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 

20 U.S.C. 1308). The Secretary also shall promulgate 

21 such additional regulations as the Secretary deter22 mines necessary to ensure a fair and reasonable ap23 plication of the limitation established under such 

24 paragraph. 
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1 (d) INFORMATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

2 Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable—

3 (1) use information that the Secretary has ob4 tained from administering other provisions of law; 

5 and 

6 (2) minimize any additional information or re7 quirements that are imposed on eligible producers. 

8 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE OFFSET.—Payments under this 

9 section shall not be subject to administrative offset, in10 cluding administrative offset under chapter 37 of title 31, 

11 United States Code, or the Commodity Credit Corporation 

12 Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 4. COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION. 

14 The Secretary shall use the funds, facilities, and au15 thorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry 

16 out this Act. 

17 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may promulgate 

19 such regulations as are necessary to implement this Act. 

20 (b) PROCEDURE.—The promulgation of the regula21 tions and administration of this Act shall be made without 

22 regard to—

23 (1) the notice and comment provisions of sec24 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code; 
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1 (2) the Statement of Policy of the Secretary of 

2 Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 

3 13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking 

4 and public participation in rulemaking; and 

5 (3) chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 

6 (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

7 Act’’). 

8 (c) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE9 MAKING.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 

10 use the authority provided under section 808 of title 5, 

11 United States Code. 

12 SEC. 6. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The entire amount made available 

14 under this Act shall be available only to the extent that 

15 the President submits to Congress an official budget re16 quest for a specific dollar amount that includes designa17 tion of the entire amount of the request as an emergency 

18 requirement for the purposes of the Balanced Budget and 

19 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et 

20 seq.). 

21 (b) DESIGNATION.—The entire amount made avail22 able under this section is designated by Congress as an 

23 emergency requirement under sections 251(b)(2)(A) and 

24 252(e) of that Act (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A), 902(e)).

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