II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1100

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

to farmers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 26, 2001

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

MURKOWSKI, Mrs. LINCOLN, and Mr. KERRY) 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.—The term

6 ‘agricultural commodity’ means any agricultural

7 commodity (including livestock, fish, or harvested

8 seafood) in its raw or natural state.

9 ‘‘(2) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY PRODUCER.—

10 The term ‘agricultural commodity producer’ means

11 any person who is engaged in the production and

12 sale of an agricultural commodity in the United

13 States and who owns or shares the ownership and

14 risk of loss of the agricultural commodity.

15 ‘‘(3) CONTRIBUTED IMPORTANTLY.—

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

17 importantly’ means a cause which is important

18 but not necessarily more important than any

19 other cause.

20 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF CONTRIBUTED

21 IMPORTANTLY.—The determination of whether

22 imports of articles like or directly competitive

23 with an agricultural commodity with respect to

24 which the petition under this chapter was filed

25 contributed importantly to a decline in the price
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1 of the agricultural commodity shall be made by

2 the Secretary of Agriculture.

3 ‘‘(4) DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE.—

4 The term ‘duly authorized representative’ means an

5 association of agricultural commodity producers.

6 ‘‘(5) NATIONAL AVERAGE PRICE.—The term

7 ‘national average price’ means the national average

8 price paid to an agricultural commodity producer for

9 an agricultural commodity in a marketing year as

10 determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.

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

12 the Secretary of Agriculture.

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

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

15 eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under this

16 chapter may be filed with the Secretary by a group of agri17 cultural commodity producers or by their duly authorized

18 representative. Upon receipt of the petition, the Secretary

19 shall promptly publish notice in the Federal Register that

20 the Secretary has received the petition and initiated an

21 investigation.

22 ‘‘(b) HEARINGS.—If the petitioner, or any other per23 son found by the Secretary to have a substantial interest

24 in the proceedings, submits not later than 10 days after

25 the date of the Secretary’s publication under subsection
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1 (a) a request for a hearing, the Secretary shall provide

2 for a public hearing and afford such interested persons

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

4 be heard.

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

6 Secretary shall certify a group of agricultural commodity

7 producers as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance

8 under this chapter if the Secretary determines—

9 ‘‘(1) that the national average price for the ag10 ricultural commodity, or a class of goods within the

11 agricultural commodity, produced by the group for

12 the most recent marketing year for which the na13 tional average price is available is less than 80 per14 cent of the average of the national average price for

15 such agricultural commodity, or such class of goods,

16 for the 5 marketing years preceding the most recent

17 marketing year; and

18 ‘‘(2) that increases in imports of articles like or

19 directly competitive with the agricultural commodity,

20 or class of goods within the agricultural commodity,

21 produced by the group contributed importantly to

22 the decline in price described in paragraph (1).

23 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR QUALIFIED SUBSEQUENT

24 YEARS.—A group of agricultural commodity producers

25 certified as eligible under section 293 shall be eligible to
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1 apply for assistance under this chapter in any qualified

2 year after the year the group is first certified, if the Sec3 retary determines that—

4 ‘‘(1) the national average price for the agricul5 tural commodity, or class of goods within the agri6 cultural commodity, produced by the group for the

7 most recent marketing year for which the national

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

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

10 ‘‘(2) the requirements of subsection (c)(2) are

11 met.

12 ‘‘(e) DETERMINATION OF QUALIFIED YEAR AND

13 COMMODITY.—In this chapter:

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

15 year’, with respect to a group of agricultural com16 modity producers certified as eligible under section

17 293, means each consecutive year after the year in

18 which the group is certified that the Secretary

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

20 as the case may be.

21 ‘‘(2) CLASSES OF GOODS WITHIN A COM22 MODITY.—In any case in which there are separate

23 classes of goods within an agricultural commodity,

24 the Secretary shall treat each class as a separate

25 commodity in determining group eligibility, the na-
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1 tional average price, and level of imports under this

2 section and section 296.

3 ‘‘SEC. 293. DETERMINATIONS BY SECRETARY.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the

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

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

7 Secretary shall determine whether the petitioning group

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

9 case may be and shall, if the group meets the require10 ments, issue a certification of eligibility to apply for assist11 ance under this chapter covering agricultural commodity

12 producers in any group that meet the requirements. Each

13 certification shall specify the date on which eligibility

14 under this chapter begins.

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

16 petition, the Secretary shall promptly publish a summary

17 of the determination in the Federal Register, together with

18 the Secretary’s reasons for making the determination.

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

20 the Secretary determines, with respect to any certification

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

22 for the agricultural commodity covered by the certification

23 is no longer attributable to the conditions described in sec24 tion 292, the Secretary shall terminate such certification

25 and promptly cause notice of such termination to be pub-
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1 lished in the Federal Register, together with the Sec2 retary’s reasons for making such determination.

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

4 TRADE COMMISSION BEGINS INVESTIGATION.

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

6 Trade Commission (in this chapter referred to as the

7 ‘Commission’) begins an investigation under section 202

8 with respect to an agricultural commodity, the Commis9 sion shall immediately notify the Secretary of the inves10 tigation. Upon receipt of the notification, the Secretary

11 shall immediately conduct a study of—

12 ‘‘(1) the number of agricultural commodity pro13 ducers producing a like or directly competitive agri14 cultural commodity who have been or are likely to be

15 certified as eligible for adjustment assistance under

16 this chapter, and

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

18 producers to the import competition may be facili19 tated through the use of existing programs.

20 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 15 days after the day

21 on which the Commission makes its report under section

22 202(f), the Secretary shall submit a report to the Presi23 dent setting forth the findings of the study under sub24 section (a). Upon making his report to the President, the

25 Secretary shall also promptly make it public (with the ex-
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1 ception of information which the Secretary determines to

2 be confidential) and shall have a summary of it published

3 in the Federal Register.

4 ‘‘SEC. 295. BENEFIT INFORMATION TO AGRICULTURAL

5 COMMODITY PRODUCERS.

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

7 information to producers about the benefit allowances,

8 training, and other employment services available under

9 this title and about the petition and application proce10 dures, and the appropriate filing dates, for such allow11 ances, training, and services. The Secretary shall provide

12 whatever assistance is necessary to enable groups to pre13 pare petitions or applications for program benefits under

14 this title.

15 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF BENEFITS.—

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

17 written notice of the benefits available under this

18 chapter to each agricultural commodity producer

19 that the Secretary has reason to believe is covered

20 by a certification made under this chapter.

21 ‘‘(2) OTHER NOTICE.—The Secretary shall pub22 lish notice of the benefits available under this chap23 ter to agricultural commodity producers that are

24 covered by each certification made under this chap-
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1 ter in newspapers of general circulation in the areas

2 in which such producers reside.

3 ‘‘SEC. 296. QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR AGRICUL4 TURAL COMMODITY PRODUCERS.

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

6 allowance shall be made to an adversely affected agricul7 tural commodity producer covered by a certification under

8 this chapter who files an application for such allowance

9 within 90 days after the date on which the Secretary

10 makes a determination and issues a certification of eligi11 bility under section 293, if the following conditions are

12 met:

13 ‘‘(1) The producer submits to the Secretary suf14 ficient information to establish the amount of agri15 cultural commodity covered by the application filed

16 under subsection (a) that was produced by the pro17 ducer in the most recent year.

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

19 has not received cash benefits under any provision of

20 this title other than this chapter.

21 ‘‘(3) The producer’s net farm income (as deter22 mined by the Secretary) for the most recent year is

23 less than the producer’s net farm income for the lat24 est year in which no adjustment assistance was re25 ceived by the producer under this chapter.
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1 ‘‘(4) The producer certifies that the producer

2 has met with an Extension Service employee or

3 agent to obtain, at no cost to the producer, informa4 tion and technical assistance that will assist the pro5 ducer in adjusting to import competition with re6 spect to the adversely affected agricultural com7 modity, including—

8 ‘‘(A) information regarding the feasibility

9 and desirability of substituting 1 or more alter10 native commodities for the adversely affected

11 agricultural commodity; and

12 ‘‘(B) technical assistance that will improve

13 the competitiveness of the production and mar14 keting of the adversely affected agricultural

15 commodity by the producer, including yield and

16 marketing improvements.

17 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF CASH BENEFITS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of

19 section 298, an adversely affected agricultural com20 modity producer described in subsection (a) shall be

21 entitled to adjustment assistance under this chapter

22 in an amount equal to the product of—

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

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

25 the average of the national average price of
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1 the agricultural commodity covered by the

2 application described in subsection (a) for

3 the 5 marketing years preceding the most

4 recent marketing year, and

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

6 agricultural commodity for the most recent

7 marketing year, and

8 ‘‘(B) the amount of the agricultural com9 modity produced by the agricultural commodity

10 producer in the most recent marketing year.

11 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR SUBSEQUENT QUALI12 FIED YEARS.—The amount of cash benefits for a

13 qualified year shall be determined in the same man14 ner as cash benefits are determined under paragraph

15 (1) except that the average national price of the ag16 ricultural commodity shall be determined under

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

18 period used to determine the amount of cash bene19 fits for the first certification.

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

21 The maximum amount of cash benefits an agricultural

22 commodity producer may receive in any 12-month period

23 shall not exceed $10,000.
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1 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON OTHER ASSISTANCE.—An ag2 ricultural commodity producer entitled to receive a cash

3 benefit under this chapter—

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

5 benefit under this title, and

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

7 and training benefits under sections 235 and 236.

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

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

10 ‘‘(1) REPAYMENT.—If the Secretary, or a court

11 of competent jurisdiction, determines that any per12 son has received any payment under this chapter to

13 which the person was not entitled, such person shall

14 be liable to repay such amount to the Secretary, ex15 cept that the Secretary may waive such repayment

16 if the Secretary determines, in accordance with

17 guidelines prescribed by the Secretary, that—

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

19 on the part of such person; and

20 ‘‘(B) requiring such repayment would be

21 contrary to equity and good conscience.

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

23 overpayment is otherwise recovered, or waived under

24 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall recover the over-
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1 payment by deductions from any sums payable to

2 such person under this chapter.

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

4 court of competent jurisdiction, determines that a

5 person—

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

7 make, a false statement or representation of a mate8 rial fact, or

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

10 fail, to disclose a material fact,

11 and, as a result of such false statement or representation,

12 or of such nondisclosure, such person has received any

13 payment under this chapter to which the person was not

14 entitled, such person shall, in addition to any other pen15 alty provided by law, be ineligible for any further pay16 ments under this chapter.

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

18 overpayments determined by a court of competent jurisdic19 tion, no repayment may be required, and no deduction

20 may be made, under this section until a determination

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

22 notice of the determination and an opportunity for a fair

23 hearing thereon has been given to the person concerned,

24 and the determination has become final.
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1 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT TO TREASURY.—Any amount recov2 ered under this section shall be returned to the Treasury

3 of the United States.

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

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

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

7 or increasing for himself or for any other person any pay8 ment authorized to be furnished under this chapter shall

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

10 more than 1 year, or both.

11 ‘‘SEC. 298. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap13 propriated and there are appropriated to the Department

14 of Agriculture not to exceed $100,000,000 for each of the

15 fiscal years 2002 through 2006 to carry out the purposes

16 of this chapter.

17 ‘‘(b) PROPORTIONATE REDUCTION.—If in any year,

18 the amount appropriated under this chapter is insufficient

19 to meet the requirements for adjustment assistance pay20 able under this chapter, the amount of assistance payable

21 under this chapter shall be reduced proportionately.’’.

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con23 tents for title II of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended

24 by inserting after the items relating to chapter 5 the fol25 lowing:
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‘‘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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