I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1319

To provide for the reorganization of the United States Department of

Agriculture.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 11, 1993

Mr. GLICKMAN (for himself, Mr. FAWELL, and Mr. PORTER) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To provide for the reorganization of the United States

Department of Agriculture.

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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1993’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

TITLE I—REORGANIZATION OF THE HEADQUARTERS OPERATION

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Sec. 101. Department of Agriculture.

Sec. 102. Secretary of Agriculture.
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Sec. 103. Office of the Secretary of Agriculture.

Sec. 104. Executive Secretariat.

Sec. 105. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.

Sec. 106. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Programs.

Sec. 107. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development.

Sec. 108. Under Secretary of Agriculture for International Programs.

Sec. 109. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment.

Sec. 110. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Consumer and Marketing Services.

Sec. 111. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research.

Sec. 112. Assistant Secretaries of Agriculture.

Sec. 113. General Counsel.

Sec. 114. Inspector General.

Sec. 115. Chief Clerk.

TITLE II—REORGANIZATION OF THE PROVISION OF SERVICES TO

FARMERS

Sec. 201. Establishment of the farm services administration.

Sec. 202. Consolidation of field offices of the department of agriculture.

Sec. 203. Reorganization of local and county committee system.

Sec. 204. Application of farm program appeals system.

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 301. Reductions in the headquarters office of the department of agriculture.

Sec. 302. Paperwork reduction.

Sec. 303. Sense of congress.

Sec. 304. Conforming amendments and repeals.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds the following:

3 (1) The Department of Agriculture workforce

4 has grown to become the third largest civilian

5 workforce in the United States with offices in all but

6 six percent of the counties in the country.

7 (2) The farm population of the United States

8 represents less than three percent of the total popu9 lation of the country and only sixteen percent of all

10 counties in the country are farming counties.
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1 (3) The ratio of Department of Agriculture em2 ployees to farms is more than double what it was 30

3 years ago.

4 (4) The Department of Agriculture maintains a

5 field office system that costs over $1000 per farm

6 per year to operate for a total cost of approximately

7 $2.4 billion annually.

8 (5) The growth in the number of employees and

9 offices of the Department of Agriculture is due in

10 part to the increasing complexity of farm programs

11 and is an ineffective use of Federal resources.

12 (6) The reorganization and streamlining of the

13 Department of Agriculture is necessary to save Fed14 eral resources and more efficiently serve the needs of

15 farmers and rural America.

16 TITLE I—REORGANIZATION OF

17 THE HEADQUARTERS OPER18 ATION OF THE DEPARTMENT

19 OF AGRICULTURE

20 SEC. 101. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (7 U.S.C. 2201–

21 2203).

22 (a) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.—The Department of

23 Agriculture shall be an executive department of the United

24 States Government at the seat of the Government.
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1 (b) PURPOSES.—The general design and duties of the

2 Department shall be to acquire and to diffuse among the

3 people of the United States useful information on subjects

4 connected with agriculture, rural development, aqua5 culture, and human nutrition, in the most general and

6 comprehensive sense of those terms, and to procure, prop7 agate, and distribute among the people new and valuable

8 seeds and plants.

9 (c) COMPOSITION.—The Department shall be com10 posed of the following:

11 (1) The Office of the Secretary of Agriculture.

12 (2) The Commodity Credit Corporation.

13 (3) The Farm Services Administration.

14 (4) The Rural Development Administration.

15 (5) The Rural Electrification Administration.

16 (6) The Foreign Agricultural Service.

17 (7) The Office of International Cooperation and

18 Development.

19 (8) The Soil Conservation Service.

20 (9) The Forest Service.

21 (10) The Food and Nutrition Service.

22 (11) The Human Nutrition Information Serv23 ice.

24 (12) The Agricultural Marketing Service.
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1 (13) The Animal and Plant Health Inspection

2 Service.

3 (14) The Federal Grain Inspection Service.

4 (15) The Food Safety and Inspection Service.

5 (16) The Packers and Stockyards Administra6 tion.

7 (17) The Agricultural Research Service.

8 (18) The Cooperative State Research Service.

9 (19) The National Agricultural Library.

10 (20) The World Agricultural Outlook Board.

11 (21) The Economic Research Service.

12 (22) The National Agricultural Statistics Serv13 ice.

14 (23) Such other offices, agencies, and activities

15 as may be established or designated by law or by the

16 President.

17 (24) All offices, agencies, activities under the

18 control or supervision of an agency or office named

19 in paragraphs (1) through (23).

20 (d) SEAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall pro21 cure a proper seal, with such suitable inscriptions and de22 vices as the Secretary may approve, to be known as the

23 official seal of the Department of Agriculture, and to be

24 kept and used to verify official documents, under such

25 rules and regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.
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1 SEC. 102. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE (7 U.S.C. 2202–2209).

2 (a) DEPARTMENT HEAD.—The head of the Depart3 ment of Agriculture is the Secretary of Agriculture. The

4 Secretary shall serve as the principal assistant to the

5 President in all matters relating to the Department.

6 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary shall be ap7 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and con8 sent of the Senate.

9 (c) GENERAL DUTIES.—

10 (1) INFORMATION COLLECTION.—The Secretary

11 of Agriculture shall procure and preserve all infor12 mation concerning agriculture, rural development,

13 aquaculture, and human nutrition which can be ob14 tained—

15 (A) by means of books and correspondence;

16 (B) by practical and scientific experiments,

17 accurate records of which experiments shall be

18 preserved;

19 (C) by the collection of statistics; and

20 (D) by any other appropriate means.

21 (2) PLANTS AND SEEDS.—The Secretary shall

22 collect new and valuable seeds and plants and shall

23 test, by cultivation, the value of such of them as

24 may require such tests. The Secretary shall propa25 gate such seeds and plants as may be worthy of
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1 propagation and shall distribute them among agri2 culturists.

3 (3) ADVISORY DUTIES.—The Secretary shall

4 advise the President, other members of the Cabinet,

5 and the Congress on policies and programs designed

6 to improve the quality of life for people living in the

7 rural and nonmetropolitan regions of the United

8 States.

9 (4) RESEARCH REGARDING RURAL CONDI10 TIONS.—The Secretary may initiate or expand re11 search and development efforts related to solution of

12 problems of rural water supply, rural sewage and

13 solid waste management, rural housing, rural indus14 trialization, and technology appropriate to small15 and moderate-sized family farming operations, and

16 any other problem that the Secretary may determine

17 has an effect upon the economic development or the

18 quality of life in rural areas.

19 (d) CUSTODY OF PROPERTY AND RECORDS.—The

20 Secretary shall have charge, in the building and premises

21 appropriated to the Department, of the library, furniture,

22 fixtures, records, and other property appertaining to it,

23 or acquired for use in its business.

24 (e) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall annually submit

25 a general report in writing to the President of the activi-
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1 ties of the Department, in which the Secretary may rec2 ommend the publication of papers forming parts of or ac3 companying the report. The Secretary shall also make spe4 cial reports on particular subjects whenever required to

5 do so by the President or either House of Congress, or

6 when the Secretary considers shall a report to be nec7 essary.

8 (f) USE AND ACCOUNTING OF FUNDS.—The Sec9 retary shall direct and superintend the expenditure of all

10 money appropriated to the Department and render ac11 counts thereof. The Secretary shall furnish proper vouch12 ers and accounts for the sums appropriated for the De13 partment of Agriculture to the General Accounting Office.

14 SEC. 103. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTION.—There is in

16 the Department of Agriculture an Office of the Secretary

17 of Agriculture. The function of the Office is to assist the

18 Secretary in carrying out the duties and responsibilities

19 of the Secretary and to carry out such other duties as may

20 be prescribed by law. The Office of the Secretary shall

21 be responsible for overall leadership of the Department.

22 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Office of the Secretary of

23 Agriculture is composed of the following:

24 (1) The Executive Secretariat.

25 (2) The Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.
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1 (3) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for

2 Farm Programs.

3 (4) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for

4 Rural Development.

5 (5) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for

6 International Programs.

7 (6) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for

8 Natural Resources and Environment.

9 (7) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for

10 Consumer and Marketing Services.

11 (8) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Re12 search.

13 (9) The Assistant Secretaries of Agriculture.

14 (10) The Chief Financial Officer of the Depart15 ment of Agriculture.

16 (11) The General Counsel of the Department of

17 Agriculture.

18 (12) The Inspector General of the Department

19 of Agriculture.

20 (13) Such other offices and officials as may be

21 established by law or the Secretary of Agriculture

22 may establish or designate in the Office.
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1 SEC. 104. EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is in the Office of the

3 Secretary of Agriculture an Executive Secretariat to be

4 headed by the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.

5 (b) DUTIES.—

6 (1) ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT.—The

7 Executive Secretariat shall consolidate into one place

8 all department-wide administrative and managerial

9 activities, such as personnel, information, and finan10 cial systems, including the administrative functions

11 of the Commodity Credit Corporation.

12 (2) PUBLIC AFFAIRS.—The Executive Secretar13 iat shall be responsible for public affairs, including

14 media relations, throughout the Department and the

15 congressional liaison and intergovernmental affairs

16 of each agency and office of the Department.

17 (3) ADJUDICATIONS AND APPEALS.—The Exec18 utive Secretariat shall oversee adjudicatory agencies

19 and functions of the Department, including the Na20 tional Appeals Division to hear appeals related to all

21 farmer services programs.

22 SEC. 105. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE (7 U.S.C.

23 2210–2211).

24 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is a Deputy Secretary of

25 Agriculture, appointed from civilian life by the President,

26 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
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1 (b) DUTIES.—The Deputy Secretary shall perform

2 such duties and exercise such powers as the Secretary of

3 Agriculture may prescribe. The Deputy Secretary may ex4 ercise the functions and perform the duties of the first

5 assistant of the Secretary of Agriculture within the mean6 ing of section 3345 of title 5, United States Code.

7 (c) PRECEDENCE.—The Deputy Secretary takes

8 precedence in the Department of Agriculture immediately

9 after the Secretary of Agriculture.

10 SEC. 106. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR FARM

11 PROGRAMS (7 U.S.C. 2211a).

12 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is an Under Secretary of

13 Agriculture for Farm Programs, appointed from civilian

14 life by the President, by and with the advice and consent

15 of the Senate.

16 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary of Agriculture

17 for Farm Programs shall have jurisdiction for all pro18 grams of the Department of Agriculture providing direct

19 assistance to farmers, including farm price and income

20 support and farm financing, crop insurance, and technical

21 assistance provided under the Farm Services Administra22 tion.
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1 SEC. 107. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR

2 RURAL DEVELOPMENT (7 U.S.C. 2211b).

3 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is an Under Secretary of

4 Agriculture for Rural Development, appointed from civil5 ian life by the President, by and with the advice and con6 sent of the Senate.

7 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary of Agriculture

8 for Rural Development shall have jurisdiction for all pro9 grams of the Department of Agriculture related to rural

10 development, including those programs in the Rural Devel11 opment Administration and Rural Electrification Adminis12 tration and the housing, community facilities, and busi13 ness and industry loan programs of the Farmers Home

14 Administration.

15 SEC. 108. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR

16 INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS.

17 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is an Under Secretary of

18 Agriculture for International Programs, appointed from

19 civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and

20 consent of the Senate.

21 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary of Agriculture

22 for International Programs shall oversee the trade policy

23 and export programs of the Department of Agriculture

24 under the Foreign Agricultural Service and Office of

25 International Cooperation and Development.
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1 SEC. 109. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR NATU2 RAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT.

3 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is an Under Secretary of

4 Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, ap5 pointed from civilian life by the President, by and with

6 the advice and consent of the Senate.

7 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary of Agriculture

8 for Natural Resources and Environment shall have juris9 diction for programs of the Department of Agriculture re10 lating to natural resources, conservation, and the environ11 ment generally. The Under Secretary shall have jurisdic12 tion over the Forest Service, the Soil Conservation Service,

13 conservation cost share programs of the Agricultural Con14 servation and Stabilization Service, and natural resource

15 programs of the Extension Service. The Under Secretary

16 shall also have responsibility for energy and pesticide pro17 grams of the Department.

18 SEC. 110. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR

19 CONSUMER AND MARKETING SERVICES.

20 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is an Under Secretary of

21 Agriculture for Consumer and Marketing Services, ap22 pointed from civilian life by the President, by and with

23 the advice and consent of the Senate.

24 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary of Agriculture

25 for Consumer and Marketing Services shall have jurisdic26 tion over the food and nutrition, inspection, and marketing
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1 programs of the Department of Agriculture. This jurisdic2 tion shall include nutrition programs, food stamps, meat

3 and grain inspection, marketing programs, and the

4 consumer assistance programs of the Extension Service.

5 SEC. 111. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR RE6 SEARCH.

7 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is an Under Secretary of

8 Agriculture for Research, appointed from civilian life by

9 the President, by and with the advice and consent of the

10 Senate.

11 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary of Agriculture

12 for Research shall have jurisdiction over all research ef13 forts and economic analysis of the Department of Agri14 culture.

15 SEC. 112. ASSISTANT SECRETARIES OF AGRICULTURE (7

16 U.S.C. 2212–2212c).

17 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There are seven Assistant Sec18 retaries of Agriculture, appointed from civilian life by the

19 President, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen20 ate.

21 (b) DUTIES.—The Assistant Secretaries shall per22 form such duties and exercise such powers as the Sec23 retary of Defense may prescribe.
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1 SEC. 113. GENERAL COUNSEL.

2 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is a General Counsel of

3 the Department of Agriculture, appointed from civilian life

4 by the President, by and with the advice and consent of

5 the Senate.

6 (b) CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER.—The General Counsel

7 is the chief legal officer of the Department of Agriculture

8 and shall perform such functions as the Secretary of Agri9 culture may prescribe.

10 SEC. 114. INSPECTOR GENERAL.

11 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is an Inspector General

12 of the Department of Agriculture, who is appointed as pro13 vided in section 3 of the Inspector General Act of 1978

14 (Public Law 95–452; 5 U.S.C. App. 3).

15 (b) DUTIES.—The Inspector General shall be respon16 sible for oversight of the Department of Agriculture. The

17 Inspector General performs the duties, has the responsibil18 ities, and exercises the powers specified in the Inspector

19 General Act of 1978.

20 SEC. 115. CHIEF CLERK (7 U.S.C. 2215).

21 The Secretary of Agriculture shall appoint a chief

22 clerk.
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1 TITLE II—REORGANIZATION OF

2 THE PROVISION OF SERVICES

3 TO FARMERS

4 SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FARM SERVICES ADMIN5 ISTRATION.

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT; ADMINISTRATION.—There is

7 established in the Department of Agriculture the Farm

8 Services Administration, which shall be headed by an Ad9 ministrator appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The

10 position of Administrator shall be a Senior Executive Serv11 ice position, and the rate of basic pay for the Adminis12 trator shall be set as provided in subchapter VIII of chap13 ter 53 of title 5, United States Code.

14 (b) PURPOSE OF ADMINISTRATION.—The purpose of

15 the Farm Services Administration is to provide a single

16 agency to administer all programs and activities of the De17 partment of Agriculture that serve farmers in order to en18 sure more effective, efficient, and economical administra19 tion of those programs and activities and to eliminate du20 plication.

21 (c) CONSOLIDATION OF EXISTING AGENCIES.—Dur22 ing the five-year period beginning on the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall con24 solidate into the Farm Services Administration the follow25 ing agencies of the Department of Agriculture:
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1 (1) The Agricultural Stabilization and Con2 servation Service.

3 (2) The Extension Service.

4 (3) The farmer lending programs of the Farm5 ers Home Administration established in section 331

6 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development

7 Act (7 U.S.C. 1981).

8 (4) The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

9 established in section 503 of the Federal Crop In10 surance Act (7 U.S.C. 1503).

11 (d) EFFECT OF CONSOLIDATION.—Upon consolida12 tion of an agency referred to in subsection (c), all pro13 grams and activities previously administered by that agen14 cy shall be administered by the Farm Services Administra15 tion. The assets, contracts, property, records, and employ16 ees of that agency, and the unexpended balances of any

17 appropriations available to that agency, relating to those

18 programs and activities shall be transferred to the Farm

19 Services Administration. Any reference to that agency or

20 the head of that agency in any law, regulation, or order

21 shall be considered to be a reference to the Farm Services

22 Administration or the Administrator, as the case may be.

23 (e) CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES TO THE

24 RURAL DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION.—Notwith25 standing subsection (d), if the Secretary of Agriculture de-
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1 termines that a program or activity of an agency referred

2 to in subsection (c) or other agency of the Department

3 of Agriculture is not directly related to farmer services or

4 would be more appropriate for administration by the Rural

5 Development Administration established in section 364 of

6 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

7 U.S.C. 2006f), the Secretary may transfer administration

8 of that program or activity to the Rural Development Ad9 ministration. Programs and activities transferred under

10 this subsection shall include—

11 (1) programs of the Soil Conservation Service

12 involving watershed districts;

13 (2) real estate loan authorities under sections

14 302 through 310D of the Consolidated Farm and

15 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922–1934); and

16 (3) the activities of the Rural Electrification

17 Administration under the Rural Electrification Act

18 of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.).

19 SEC. 202. CONSOLIDATION OF FIELD OFFICES OF THE DE20 PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

21 (a) DISTRICT OFFICES.—In lieu of county field of22 fices for the Farm Services Administration, the Secretary

23 of Agriculture shall establish offices in administrative dis24 tricts consisting of more than one county in a State or

25 parts of different counties, except, at the discretion of the
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1 Secretary and according to guidelines provided for in sub2 section (c) such offices may encompass only one county

3 under conditions which warrant. In establishing such dis4 tricts, the Secretary shall consider the number of farmers

5 to be served by such district in a State, the area to be

6 covered by a district, and the cost of operating a district

7 compared to the value of the benefits to be provided

8 through the district office.

9 (b) OFFICES TO REPLACE EXISTING COUNTY OF10 FICES.—As the district offices are established under sub11 section (a), they shall replace the county or other local

12 offices of the agencies being consolidated under section

13 201. The replacement of offices shall be completed by the

14 end of the five-year period beginning on the date of the

15 enactment of this Act.

16 (c) PERSONNEL ADJUSTMENTS.—In the event the re17 organization of offices required under this section result

18 in lower personnel needs, the Secretary shall give first pri19 ority to achieving those levels through attrition rather

20 than other reductions in force.

21 (d) GUIDELINES.—Before establishing district offices

22 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall publish guide23 lines of the criteria to be used in determining the size of

24 administrative areas to be covered by district offices. The

25 criteria shall include the number of farms and farmers in
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1 each administrative area, the geographic size of each ad2 ministrative area, the amount and kind of crops grown

3 in each administrative area, the likely inconvenience to

4 farmers of the size of the administrative area, the ability

5 of the proposed office to service efficiently the administra6 tive area, the ability of farmers in the administrative area

7 to utilize user-friendly application processes for the pro8 grams administered by the office, and the extent to which

9 the Secretary has eased paperwork burdens on farmers to

10 be served by the administrative area. The guidelines estab11 lished shall be subject to public comment before final im12 plementation.

13 SEC. 203. REORGANIZATION OF LOCAL AND COUNTY COM14 MITTEE SYSTEM.

15 (a) DISTRICT COMMITTEES.—In carrying out the du16 ties of the Farm Services Administration, the Adminis17 trator shall use the services of district committees selected

18 pursuant to this subsection. Each district established

19 under section 202 shall have one district committee con20 sisting of at least three members elected to three-year

21 terms in a district-wide election to be held every third

22 year. Only farmers within a district who are producers

23 who participate or cooperate in programs administered

24 within their district shall be eligible for nomination and

25 election to the district committee for that district. Only
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1 farmers who are participating or cooperating producers

2 within a district shall be eligible to vote in the election

3 in that district. Each district committee shall meet once

4 each year and shall receive compensation for such meeting

5 by the Secretary at not less than the level in effect on

6 December 31, 1985. The committee may meet without

7 compensation at such additional times during the year as

8 may be necessary.

9 (b) SUBCOMMITTEES.—A district committee may es10 tablish subcommittees with responsibility to act for the

11 committee with respect to particular programs or activities

12 of the Farm Services Administration.

13 (c) DISTRICT COMMITTEES TO REPLACE EXISTING

14 COMMITTEES.—A district committee shall replace any

15 local committee or county committee established under

16 section 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allot17 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b) for an area served by the

18 district committee. The replacement of committees shall

19 be completed by the end of the five-year period beginning

20 on the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary

21 of Agriculture shall also eliminate during that period the

22 use of local administrative areas established under that

23 section. Any reference in any law, regulation, or order to

24 a local or county committee replaced under this subsection

25 or a local administrative area terminated under this sub-
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1 section shall be considered to be a reference to a district

2 committee or district, as the case may be.

3 SEC. 204. APPLICATION OF FARM PROGRAM APPEALS SYS4 TEM.

5 Section 426 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.

6 1433e) shall apply to any program or activity adminis7 tered by the Farm Services Administration.

8 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS

9 PROVISIONS

10 SEC. 301. REDUCTIONS IN THE HEADQUARTERS OFFICE OF

11 THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

12 (a) REDUCTIONS.—During the five-year period begin13 ning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

14 of Agriculture shall reduce the number of employees in

15 the headquarters office of the Department of Agriculture

16 by an amount commensurate with the reductions in the

17 workforce of the Department of Agriculture as a result

18 of the consolidation of county offices under section 202.

19 (b) USE OF ATTRITION.—In making the reductions

20 required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Agriculture

21 shall give first priority to achieving them through attrition

22 rather than other reductions in force.

23 SEC. 302. PAPERWORK REDUCTION.

24 (a) CENTRALIZED INFORMATION SYSTEM.—The Sec25 retary of Agriculture shall establish a centralized data sys-
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1 tem within the Farm Services Administration for informa2 tion regarding services provided to farmers and informa3 tion required of farmers for participation in the programs

4 administered by the Farm Services Administration.

5 (b) ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATION.—As part of the

6 reorganization of the Department of Agriculture required

7 by this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall examine all

8 forms, application, and other information requests re9 quired to be submitted by farmers in programs and activi10 ties to be administered by the Farm Services Administra11 tion in order to eliminate duplication and save time for

12 farmers.

13 (c) USER-FRIENDLY APPLICATION PROCESS.—As

14 part of the reorganization of the Department of Agri15 culture required by this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture

16 shall establish a system for allowing farmers to enroll in

17 programs administered by the Farm Services Administra18 tion with one, user-friendly, application process that may

19 be completed and filed with the Farm Services Adminis20 tration electronically, by facsimile, by mail, or other means

21 as the Secretary determines appropriate to ease the paper22 work burden on farmers.

23 SEC. 303. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

24 It is the sense of Congress that one of the primary

25 goals of future farm legislation should be to reduce the
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1 complexity of farm programs, to simplify the administra2 tion of and compliance with their requirements, and to

3 ease the paperwork burdens on farmers.

4 SEC. 304. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND REPEALS.

5 (a) REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED PROVISIONS.—The fol6 lowing provisions of law are repealed:

7 (1) Sections 520, 523, 525, 526, 528, 529, and

8 3677 of the Revised Statutes of the United States

9 (7 U.S.C. 2201, 2204, 2206, 2207, 2208, 2215).

10 (2) The first section and sections 2 and 4 of

11 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to enlarge the powers and

12 duties of the Department of Agriculture and to cre13 ate an Executive Department to be known as the

14 Department of Agriculture.’’, approved February 9,

15 1889 (7 U.S.C. 2202, 2212).

16 (3) The last undesignated paragraph under the

17 heading ‘‘DIVISION OF SEEDS’’ of the Act entitled

18 ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the Department

19 of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June thirti20 eth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five.’’, approved

21 August 8, 1894 (28 Stat. 272; 7 U.S.C. 2203).

22 (4) The last semicolon and all that follows

23 through ‘‘the Commissioner of Agriculture’’ in the

24 undesignated paragraph under the paragraph des25 ignated as ‘‘Salaries and expenses Bureau of Animal
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1 Industry:’’ under the heading ‘‘MISCELLANEOUS’’ of

2 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act making an appropriation

3 for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year

4 ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety,

5 and for other purposes’’, approved March 2, 1889

6 (25 Stat. 840; 7 U.S.C. 2205).

7 (5) The last semicolon and all that follows

8 through ‘‘the Commissioner of Agriculture’’ in the

9 undesignated paragraph under the paragraph des10 ignated as ‘‘SALARIES AND EXPENSES, BUREAU OF

11 ANIMAL INDUSTRY:’’ under the heading ‘‘MIS12 CELLANEOUS’’ of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act making

13 appropriation for the Department of Agriculture for

14 fiscal year ending June thirtieth, anno Domini eight15 een hundred and ninety-one’’, approved July 14,

16 1890 (25 Stat. 840; 7 U.S.C. 2205).

17 (6) Section 2 under the heading ‘‘CONTINGENT

18 EXPENSES’’ of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act making an

19 appropriation for the Agricultural Department for

20 the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hun21 dred and eighty-six, and for other purposes.’’, ap22 proved March 3, 1885 (23 Stat. 356; 7 U.S.C.

23 2209).

24 (7) The undesignated paragraph under the

25 heading ‘‘SALARIES’’ under the heading ‘‘OFFICE
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1 OF THE SECRETARY’’ of the Act entitled ‘‘An

2 Act making appropriations for the Department of

3 Agriculture and for the Farm Credit Administration

4 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1935, and for

5 other purposes.’’, approved March 26, 1934 (48

6 Stat. 467; 7 U.S.C. 2210).

7 (8) The joint resolution entitled ‘‘A joint resolu8 tion to define the status of the Under Secretary of

9 Agriculture, and for other purposes.’’, approved

10 June 5, 1939 (53 Stat. 809; 7 U.S.C. 2211).

11 (9) Section 501(a) of Public Law 95–501 (7

12 U.S.C. 2211a).

13 (10) The first paragraph designated ‘‘OFFICE

14 OF THE SECRETARY:’’ under the heading ‘‘DE15 PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’’ of the Act en16 titled ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the De17 partment of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending

18 June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seven.’’, ap19 proved June 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 670; 7 U.S.C.

20 2212).

21 (11) Section 604(a) of Public Law 92–419 (7

22 U.S.C. 2212a).

23 (12) Section 2 of Public Law 94–561 (7 U.S.C.

24 2212b).
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1 (13) Section 8(a) of Public Law 97–325 (7

2 U.S.C. 2212c).

3 (14) Section 301 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to

4 adjust the rates of compensation of the heads of the

5 executive departments and of certain other officials

6 of the Federal Government, and for other purposes,

7 approved July 31, 1956 (70 Stat. 742; 7 U.S.C.

8 2214).

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1410A of

10 the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and

11 Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3125a) is amended

12 by striking ‘‘established pursuant to section 520 of the

13 Revised Statutes (7 U.S.C. 2201)’’.

14 (c) COMPENSATION OF DEPARTMENT OFFICERS.—

15 Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture

17 for International Affairs and Commodity Pro18 grams.’’;

19 (2) by striking ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture

20 for Small Community and Rural Development.’’; and

21 (3) by inserting after ‘‘Deputy Director of the

22 Office of Personnel Management.’’ the following new

23 undesignated paragraphs:

24 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Pro25 grams.
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1 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural De2 velopment.

3 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Inter4 national Programs.

5 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural

6 Resources and Environment.

7 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Consumer

8 and Marketing Services.

9 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Re10 search.’’.

Æ