II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1062 

To amend the Beef Research and Information Act to allow the promotion 

of beef that is born and raised exclusively in the United States and 

to establish new referendum requirements. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 18, 2009 

Mr. TESTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Beef Research and Information Act to allow 

the promotion of beef that is born and raised exclusively 

in the United States and to establish new referendum 

requirements. 

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 ‘‘Beef Checkoff Mod5 ernization Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRED TERMS IN ORDER. 

2 (a) CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS.—Section 5(6) of 

3 the Beef Research and Information Act (7 U.S.C. 

4 2904(6)) is amended in the first sentence— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘established’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘new or existing’’; and 

7 (2) by inserting ‘‘and such other organizations 

8 and entities as the Secretary determines to be ap9 propriate,’’ after ‘‘paragraph (4),’’. 

10 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 5 of the Beef Research 

11 and Information Act (7 U.S.C. 2904) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(13) USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The order shall direct 

15 that at least 30 percent of the funds derived 

16 from the assessment of United States producers 

17 and made available for marketing of products 

18 derived from cattle be used only for the pro19 motion and marketing of products derived from 

20 cattle exclusively born and raised in the United 

21 States. 

22 ‘‘(B) IMPORTED BEEF.—The order shall 

23 direct that, of the aggregate amount collected 

24 from importers, a percentage of that amount, to 

25 be determined by the Committee, shall be re26 served to promote products specifically derived 


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1 from cattle not born and raised in the United 

2 States.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS OF REFERENDUM. 

4 Section 7(b) of the Beef Research and Information 

5 Act (7 U.S.C. 2906(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and the first sentence and 

7 inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REFERENDA TO DETERMINE SUS9 PENSION OR TERMINATION OF ORDER.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in calendar year 

11 2010 and every 7 years thereafter, or more fre12 quently during those 7-year periods, upon the receipt 

13 of a petition of a representative group comprising 10 

14 percent or more of cattle producers (as determined 

15 by the Secretary), the Secretary shall conduct a ref16 erendum— 

17 ‘‘(A) to determine whether cattle producers 

18 favor the termination or suspension of the 

19 order; and 

20 ‘‘(B) to vote on any other amendments to 

21 the order.’’; 

22 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

23 Secretary shall’’ and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) MAJORITY VOTE TO SUSPEND OR TERMI25 NATE.—The Secretary shall’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REFERENDA.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 

4 referenda required under subsection (a) and 

5 paragraph (1), not later than 1 year after any 

6 proposed amendments to the order, the Sec7 retary shall conduct a referendum for the spe8 cific amendments to determine whether cattle 

9 producers favor the termination or suspension 

10 of the amendments. 

11 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as pro12 vided in subparagraph (C), the specific amend13 ments that are the subject of a referendum 

14 under subparagraph (A) shall be considered in15 dividually. 

16 ‘‘(C) SINGLE PURPOSE.—Multiple amend17 ments may be considered jointly if the amend18 ments are relevant to a single purpose, includ19 ing amendments relating to changes— 

20 ‘‘(i) in the assessment level; 

21 ‘‘(ii) to the contracting requirements; 

22 ‘‘(iii) in oversight, administration, and 

23 organizational structure; or 

24 ‘‘(iv) to collection or allocation of pro25 ceeds. 


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1 ‘‘(D) EFFECTIVE DATE.—An amendment 

2 approved under a referendum under subpara3 graph (A) shall take effect beginning on the 

4 date that is 180 days after the amendment re5 ceives the majority approval of the producers 

6 voting in the referendum.’’. 

Æ 


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