I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1299

To provide a safety net for farmers through reform of the marketing loan

program under the Agricultural Market Transition Act, expansion of

land enrollment opportunities under the conservation reserve program,

and maintaining opportunities for foreign trade in United States agricultural commodities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 25, 1999

Mr. BERRY (for himself and Mrs. EMERSON) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To provide a safety net for farmers through reform of the

marketing loan program under the Agricultural Market

Transition Act, expansion of land enrollment opportunities under the conservation reserve program, and maintaining opportunities for foreign trade in United States

agricultural commodities.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

5 ‘‘Restore Agriculture Productivity Act of 1999’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Removal of caps on loan rates under Agricultural Market Transition

Act.

Sec. 3. Extension of marketing loan term.

Sec. 4. Consideration of crops typically grown on lands eligible for enrollment

in conservation reserve.

Sec. 5. Expanded enrollment authority under conservation reserve program.

Sec. 6. Early release of certain acreage enrolled in conservation reserve.

Sec. 7. Review of Federal laws and regulations that prohibit the sale or provision of agricultural commodities to foreign countries.

3 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CAPS ON LOAN RATES UNDER AGRI4 CULTURAL MARKET TRANSITION ACT.

5 (a) SPECIAL RULE FOR 1999–2002 CROPS.—Section

6 132 of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C.

7 7232) is amended by adding at the end the following new

8 subsection:

9 ‘‘(g) LIFTING OF CAPS FOR 1999–2002 CROPS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The cap specified in this

11 section on the loan rate for a marketing assistance

12 loan for a loan commodity shall not apply with re13 spect to the 1999 through 2002 crops of that com14 modity. With respect to the 1999 through 2002

15 crops of rice, the Secretary may establish a loan rate

16 in excess of the rate specified in subsection (e).

17 ‘‘(2) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—In the case

18 of the 1999 crop of each loan commodity, the Sec19 retary shall adjust marketing assistance loans and

20 loan deficiency payments made before the date of
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1 the enactment of this subsection to reflect the re2 quirements of paragraph (1).’’.

3 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF MARKETING LOAN TERM.

4 Section 133 of the Agricultural Market Transition

5 Act (7 U.S.C. 7233) is amended by striking subsection

6 (c) and inserting the following new subsection:

7 ‘‘(c) EXTENSIONS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary

8 may extend the term of a marketing assistance loan for

9 any loan commodity for a period not to exceed 6 months.’’.

10 SEC. 4. CONSIDERATION OF CROPS TYPICALLY GROWN ON

11 LANDS ELIGIBLE FOR ENROLLMENT IN CON12 SERVATION RESERVE.

13 Section 1231 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16

14 U.S.C. 3831) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing new subsection:

16 ‘‘(h) CONSIDERATION OF CROPS GROWN ON LANDS

17 OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE FOR ENROLLMENT.—In the case

18 of the croplands described in paragraphs (1) and (4) of

19 subsection (b) that are eligible for enrollment in the con20 servation reserve, the Secretary may consider the types of

21 agricultural commodities typically grown on the lands for

22 the purpose of enrolling lands that, while promoting the

23 conservation and water quality objectives of this sub24 chapter, will also reduce excess productive capacity and
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1 improve the prices producers receive for the commod2 ities.’’.

3 SEC. 5. EXPANDED ENROLLMENT AUTHORITY UNDER CON4 SERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM.

5 Section 1231(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985

6 (16 U.S.C. 3831(d)) is amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Secretary’’;

8 and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new

10 paragraph:

11 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding the limitation in paragraph (1)

12 on the total acreage authorized to be maintained in the

13 conservation reserve, the Secretary may enroll additional

14 acreage in the reserve to the extent that amounts are ap15 propriated in advance specifically for that purpose in an16 nual appropriations Acts.’’.

17 SEC. 6. EARLY RELEASE OF CERTAIN ACREAGE ENROLLED

18 IN CONSERVATION RESERVE.

19 The Food Security Act of 1985 is amended by insert20 ing after section 1231 (16 U.S.C. 3831) the following new

21 section:

22 ‘‘SEC. 1231A. EARLY RELEASE OF CERTAIN ACREAGE EN23 ROLLED IN CONSERVATION RESERVE.

24 ‘‘(a) EARLY RELEASE AUTHORITY.—If the Secretary

25 determines that, as a result of the enrollment of land in
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1 the conservation reserve under the authority of section

2 1231(d)(2), sales of a United States agriculture com3 modity is being displaced due to increased production of

4 that commodity by foreign countries, the Secretary may

5 permit the early release of lands from the conservation re6 serve pursuant to this section to increase the United

7 States production of that commodity. The Secretary shall

8 make a determination under this subsection on the basis

9 of information provided by the Foreign Agricultural Serv10 ice.

11 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC AND CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—

12 Not later than 30 days before permitting the early release

13 of conservation reserve lands for the production of an agri14 cultural commodity, the Secretary shall publish in the

15 Federal Register and submit to Congress written notice

16 describing the justification for the commodity selected, the

17 number of acres that the Secretary seeks to release, and

18 the qualifications and exclusions relevant to that release.

19 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF LAND FOR RELEASE.—Lands

20 may be released under this section only if—

21 ‘‘(1) the lands were used for the production of

22 the agricultural commodity covered by the release

23 before the enrollment of the lands in the conserva24 tion reserve;
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1 ‘‘(2) the lands were enrolled in the conservation

2 reserve using funds appropriated pursuant to the au3 thorization of appropriations in section 1231(d)(2);

4 ‘‘(3) the holder of the contract by which the

5 lands were enrolled in the conservation reserve ap6 plies for and requests the release; and

7 ‘‘(4) the contract holder agrees to produce the

8 commodity covered by the release during the first

9 crop year commencing after the release of the lands.

10 ‘‘(d) ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In con11 sidering applications by contract holders for the release

12 of lands, the Secretary shall use existing environmental

13 benefits assessments applicable to the lands. Lands which

14 are reserved for high-priority conservation practices, con15 sistent with the conservation priority areas established

16 under section 1231(f) and precedented exclusions for re17 lease from the conservation reserve, are not eligible for

18 early release under this section.

19 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The

20 Secretary may require such additional terms and condi21 tions in connection with the selection of lands for release

22 from the conservation reserve and the use of the lands

23 upon release as the Secretary considers appropriate.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. REVIEW OF FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS

2 THAT PROHIBIT THE SALE OR PROVISION OF

3 AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES TO FOREIGN

4 COUNTRIES.

5 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

6 Congress that any Federal law or regulation that prohibits

7 or otherwise restricts the sale or provision of agricultural

8 commodities to foreign countries should be maintained

9 only if the prohibition under the law or regulation is essen10 tial to the national security interests of the United States.

11 (b) STUDY.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall conduct

13 an annual study of every Federal law or regulation

14 that prohibits or otherwise restricts the sale or pro15 vision of agricultural commodities to foreign coun16 tries to determine—

17 (A) whether or not the prohibition under

18 such law or regulation is essential to the na19 tional security interests of the United States,

20 including a description of the risk to the na21 tional security interests posed by the removal of

22 the prohibition; and

23 (B) the effects of the prohibition under

24 such law or regulation on United States agri25 culture, including an assessment—
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1 (i) of the extent to which any country

2 or countries subject to the prohibition are

3 markets that accounted for, in the cal4 endar year preceding the imposition of the

5 prohibition, more than 3 percent of all ex6 port sales from the United States of an ag7 ricultural commodity;

8 (ii) of the likely effect on incomes of

9 producers of the commodity involved;

10 (iii) of the extent to which the unilat11 eral economic sanction would permit for12 eign suppliers to replace United States

13 suppliers; and

14 (iv) of the likely effect of the proposed

15 sanction on the reputation of United

16 States farmers as reliable suppliers of spe17 cific agricultural commodities and of agri18 cultural commodities in general.

19 (2) SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.—The Presi20 dent, acting through the Secretary of Agriculture,

21 shall conduct the assessment described in paragraph

22 (1)(B).

23 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

24 of the enactment of this Act, and on an annual basis there25 after, the President shall prepare and transmit to the ap-
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1 propriate congressional committees a report containing

2 the results of the study under subsection (b).

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

4 (1) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—The term

5 ‘‘agricultural commodity’’ has the meaning given the

6 term in section 102 of the Agricultural Trade Act of

7 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602).

8 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means—

11 (A) the Committee on International Rela12 tions and the Committee on Armed Services of

13 the House of Representatives; and

14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations

15 and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the

16 Senate.

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