IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 14

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the actions needed to address

the disastrous decline in hog prices for American pork producers and

to relieve the widespread economic hardship currently being suffered

by these producers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Ms. KAPTUR (for herself and Mr. LATHAM) submitted the following

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the actions

needed to address the disastrous decline in hog prices

for American pork producers and to relieve the widespread economic hardship currently being suffered by

these producers.

Whereas the price of live hogs in United States markets had

declined by 72 percent since July 1997;

Whereas on December 14, 1998, the price of live hogs dipped

below $10 per hundredweight for the first time since

1955, and American pork producers were losing between

$55 and $70 on every pig they sold;
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Whereas, adjusted for inflation, prices paid to American pork

producers for live hogs had not been this low since the

Great Depression;

Whereas, based on estimates calculated by the Department of

Agriculture, American pork producers were losing approximately $144,000,000 in equity per week and lost

more than $2,500,000,000 in 1998;

Whereas the decline in hog prices is threatening the livelihood

of tens of thousands of farm families in the United

States and the very existence of suppliers, equipment

dealers, and main street businesses in rural communities

all across America;

Whereas, while pork producers have faced declining prices for

live hogs, average retail prices in the United States for

pork and pork products remain roughly the same;

Whereas the export of American pork and pork products in

1998 increased by 28 percent despite the loss of markets

in Asia and Russia;

Whereas a primary cause of the decline in hog prices in the

United States is the increased supply of live hogs and increased hog exports from Canada to the United States

and a reduction in domestic slaughter capacity;

Whereas the slaughter plant bottleneck has been exacerbated

by the approximately 100,000 Canadian hogs that are

being exported to the United States for slaughter each

week, which represents a 37 percent increase in Canadian

hog exports to the United States; and

Whereas, because of Canadian exports, the number of live

hogs exceeded the 383,000 daily slaughter capacity of

United States plants, thereby depriving American pork
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producers of all leverage in bargaining for a fair price:

Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That, while the President and the Secretary

3 of Agriculture are to be commended for their efforts to

4 aid American pork producers during a time of unprece5 dented low prices for live hogs, it is the sense of Congress

6 that further assistance is urgently needed as follows:

7 (1) The President should consider forwarding

8 to Congress an emergency supplemental appropria9 tions request to enable the Farm Service Agency to

10 provide additional direct and guaranteed farm own11 ership loans, additional direct and guaranteed farm

12 operating loans, and additional interest rate assist13 ance for pork producers in the United States.

14 (2) The Secretary of Agriculture should prepare

15 and present to Congress a report, by February 1,

16 1999, evaluating the feasibility and cost of imple17 menting a disaster assistance program for pork pro18 ducers in the United States adversely affected by

19 low prices for live hogs, which could include—

20 (A) economic assistance for pork produc21 ers, subject to the gross income limitations ap22 plicable to other assistance programs of the De23 partment of Agriculture;
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1 (B) expanded loan and debt restructuring

2 programs; and

3 (C) compensation to producers for markets

4 lost as a result of the increased export of for5 eign hogs to the United States.

6 (3) The Secretary of Agriculture should con7 tinue to facilitate donation and distribution of

8 United States pork and pork products for humani9 tarian purposes.

10 (4) The United States Trade Representative

11 and other appropriate executive branch officials

12 should work with the Canadian Government to ad13 dress the numerous problems contributing to the in14 creased exports of Canadian pork and pork products

15 into the United States.

16 (5) The Secretary of Agriculture should take

17 appropriate steps to encourage increased utilization

18 and expansion of hog slaughter capacity in the

19 United States, including the establishment of addi20 tional processing facilities operated by small-business

21 concerns.

22 (6) The President should direct the Secretary

23 of Agriculture, the Attorney General, and the Sec24 retary of Commerce to investigate the noncompeti-
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1 tive or antitrust practices in the hog slaughter in2 dustry.

3 (7) The Secretary of Agriculture should im4 prove price reporting in the domestic livestock indus5 try to ensure fair, open, and competitive markets for

6 American livestock producers.

7 (8) The President should ensure the immediate

8 implementation of the proposed rule set forth on

9 pages 51458–51488 of volume 63, number 186, of

10 the Federal Register (Friday, September 25, 1998),

11 which would, among other things, increase the avail12 ability of commercial credit for family size farmers

13 by streamlining the regulations governing the guar14 anteed farm loan programs of the Farm Service

15 Agency.

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