II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1523

To provide a safety net for agricultural producers through improvement

of the marketing assistance loan program, expansion of land enrollment

opportunities under the conservation reserve program, and maintenance

of opportunities for foreign trade in United States agricultural commodities.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 5, 1999

Mrs. LINCOLN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To provide a safety net for agricultural producers through

improvement of the marketing assistance loan program,

expansion of land enrollment opportunities under the

conservation reserve program, and maintenance of 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Help Our Producers

5 Equity Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. LOAN RATES FOR MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 132 of the Agricultural

3 Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7232) is amended by

4 adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(g) LIMITATIONS ON LOAN RATES.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2)—

8 ‘‘(A) the limitations imposed under this

9 section on the loan rate for a marketing assist10 ance loan for a loan commodity (referred to in

11 this subsection as a ‘covered commodity’) shall

12 not apply with respect to the 1999 through

13 2002 crops of the covered commodity; and

14 ‘‘(B) the loan rate for a marketing assist15 ance loan under section 131 for the 1999

16 through 2002 crops of the covered commodity

17 shall be not less than the higher of—

18 ‘‘(i) 85 percent of the simple average

19 price received by producers of the covered

20 commodity, as determined by the Sec21 retary, during the marketing years for the

22 immediately preceding 5 crops of the cov23 ered commodity, excluding the year in

24 which the average price was the highest

25 and the year in which the average price

26 was the lowest in the period;
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1 ‘‘(ii) if the world market price for the

2 crop of at least 3 loan commodities is less

3 than the loan rate established for the crop

4 of the respective loan commodities under

5 subsections (a) through (f), 95 percent of

6 the simple average price received by pro7 ducers of the covered commodity, as deter8 mined by the Secretary, during the mar9 keting years for the immediately preceding

10 5 crops of the covered commodity, exclud11 ing the year in which the average price was

12 the highest and the year in which the aver13 age price was the lowest in the period; or

14 ‘‘(iii) the loan rate established for the

15 1999 crop of the covered commodity under

16 this section.

17 ‘‘(2) RICE.—With respect to the 1999 through

18 2002 crops of rice, the Secretary may establish a

19 loan rate in excess of the rate specified in subsection

20 (e).

21 ‘‘(3) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—In the case

22 of the 1999 crop of each loan commodity, the Sec23 retary shall adjust marketing assistance loans and

24 loan deficiency payments made before the date of
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1 enactment of this subsection to reflect the require2 ments of paragraphs (1) and (2).’’.

3 (b) LIMITATION ON MARKETING LOAN GAINS AND

4 LOAN DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS.—Section 1001(2) of the

5 Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308(2)) is amended

6 by striking ‘‘during any crop year may not exceed

7 $75,000’’ and insert ‘‘during—

8 ‘‘(A) each of the 1996 through 1998 crop

9 years may not exceed $75,000; and

10 ‘‘(B) each of the 1999 through 2002 crop

11 years may not exceed $150,000.’’.

12 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF MARKETING LOAN TERM.

13 Section 133 of the Agricultural Market Transition

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

15 (c) and inserting the following:

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

17 may extend the term of a marketing assistance loan for

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

19 SEC. 4. MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT IN CONSIDERATION RE20 SERVE PROGRAM.

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

22 (16 U.S.C. 3831(d)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting the fol24 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the’’; and

3 (2) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Subject to the avail5 ability of appropriations, paragraph (1) shall not

6 apply to each of the 1999 through 2002 calendar

7 years.’’.

8 SEC. 5. WETLANDS RESERVE PROGRAM.

9 (a) ANNUAL ENROLLMENT AUTHORITY.—Section

10 1237(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.

11 3837(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and insert12 ing the following:

13 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL ENROLLMENT AUTHORITY.—For

14 calendar years 2000 through 2005, the Secretary

15 may enroll up to 250,000 acres annually in the wet16 lands reserve program.’’.

17 (b) EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.—Section 1237(c) of

18 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3837(c)) is

19 amended by striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2005’’.

20 (c) ELIGIBLE LANDS.—Section 1237(d) of the Food

21 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3837(d)) is amended—

22 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

23 end;

24 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at

25 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(4)(A) suitable for the establishment of wet3 land functions and values;

4 ‘‘(B) land that would contribute substantially to

5 the habitat objectives of the North American Water6 fowl Management Plan signed by the Minister of the

7 Environment for Canada and the Secretary of the

8 Interior of the United States in May 1986;

9 ‘‘(C) land that has not historically been wet10 lands.’’.

11 (d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Section 1237F of

12 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3837f) is

13 amended—

14 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub15 section (c); and

16 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol17 lowing:

18 ‘‘(b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Notwithstanding

19 chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary

20 may enter into a cooperative agreement for the acquisition

21 of goods or services, including personal services, with a

22 State, a political subdivision or agency of a State, a public

23 or private agency, an organization, or any other person,

24 without regard to any requirements for competition, if the

25 Secretary determines that—
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1 ‘‘(1) the objectives of the agreement will serve

2 a mutual interest of the parties to the agreement in

3 wetland conservation;

4 ‘‘(2) all parties will contribute resources to the

5 accomplishment of the objectives; and

6 ‘‘(3) the agreement will further the purposes of

7 this subchapter.’’.

8 SEC. 6. REVIEW OF FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS

9 THAT PROHIBIT THE SALE OR PROVISION OF

10 AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES TO FOREIGN

11 COUNTRIES.

12 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that any Federal law

13 (including a regulation) that prohibits or otherwise re14 stricts the sale or provision of an agricultural commodity

15 to a foreign country should be maintained only if the pro16 hibition or other restriction under the law or regulation

17 is essential to the national security interests of the United

18 States.

19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

20 (1) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—The term

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

22 term in section 102 of the Agricultural Trade Act of

23 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602).
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1 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means—

4 (A) the Committee on International Rela5 tions and the Committee on Armed Services of

6 the House of Representatives; and

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations

8 and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the

9 Senate.

10 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

11 the Secretary of Agriculture.

12 (c) STUDY.—

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

14 an annual study of each Federal law (including a

15 regulation) that prohibits or otherwise restricts the

16 sale or provision of an agricultural commodity to a

17 foreign country to determine—

18 (A) whether the prohibition or other re19 striction under the law is essential to the na20 tional security interests of the United States,

21 including a description of the risk to the na22 tional security interests posed by the removal of

23 the prohibition or other restriction; and
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1 (B) the effects of the prohibition or other

2 restriction under the law on United States agri3 culture, including an assessment of—

4 (i) the extent to all countries subject

5 to the prohibition constitute a market that

6 accounted for, in the calendar year pre7 ceding the imposition of the prohibition or

8 other restriction, more than 3 percent of

9 all export sales from the United States of

10 an agricultural commodity;

11 (ii) the likely effect on incomes of pro12 ducers of the commodity involved;

13 (iii) the extent to which the prohibi14 tion or other restriction would permit for15 eign suppliers to replace United States

16 suppliers; and

17 (iv) the likely effect of the prohibition

18 or other restriction on the reputation of

19 United States agricultural producers as re20 liable suppliers of specific agricultural com21 modities and of agricultural commodities

22 in general.

23 (2) SECRETARY.—The President, acting

24 through the Secretary, shall conduct the assessment

25 described in paragraph (1)(B).
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1 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

2 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the

3 President shall prepare and submit to the appropriate con4 gressional committees a report containing the results of

5 the study under subsection (c).

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