I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2743
To improve the financial situation of America’s farmers and ranchers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 5, 1999
Mrs. EMERSON (for herself, Mr. THUNE, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. HILL
of Montana, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. TALENT,
Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. JOHN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. SHOWS, Mr.
SKELTON, Mr. HALL of Texas, Ms. DANNER, Mr. TANNER, and Mr.
LUCAS of Oklahoma) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on the
Budget, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To improve the financial situation of America’s farmers and
ranchers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Farm and Ranch Emergency Assistance Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Emergency requirement.
TITLE I—MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR CONTRACT
COMMODITIES
Sec. 101. Market loss assistance for contract commodities
TITLE II—MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR SOYBEANS AND
OTHER OILSEEDS
Sec. 201. Market loss assistance for soybeans and other oilseeds.
TITLE III—REMOVAL OF TRADE SANCTIONS
Sec. 301. Comptroller General report.
Sec. 302. Prohibition on unilateral agricultural or medical sanctions.
Sec. 303. Annual reports by Secretary of Agriculture.
Sec. 304. Actions by Department of Agriculture.
Sec. 305. Definition.
TITLE IV—TEMPORARY REMOVAL OF LIMIT ON LOAN
DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS AND MARKETING LOAN GAINS
Sec. 401. Temporary removal of limit on authorized amount of marketing loan
gains and loan deficiency payments.
TITLE V—UPLAND COTTON PRICE COMPETITIVENESS
Sec. 501. Upland cotton price competitiveness.
TITLE VI—MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR LIVESTOCK AND
DAIRY PRODUCERS
Sec. 601. Assistance to livestock and dairy producers.
TITLE VII—EMERGENCY CONCESSIONAL SALES AND DONATIONS
Sec. 701. Emergency concessional sales and donations.
TITLE VIII—CONSERVATION RESERVE
Sec. 801. Sense of Congress regarding full enrollment of land in the conserva-
tion reserve.
TITLE IX—EARLY AVAILABILITY OF AMTA PAYMENTS
Sec. 901. Authority for advance payment in full of remaining payments under
production flexibility contracts.
TITLE X—CROP INSURANCE
Sec. 1001. Crop insurance premium discount for 2000 crop year.
SEC. 2. EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT.
Notwithstanding the last sentence of section 252(e)
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985, amounts made available by this Act are des-
ignated by the Congress as an emergency requirement
pursuant to section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985: Provided, That
such amounts shall be available only to the extent that
an official budget request that includes designation of the
entire amount of the request as an emergency requirement
as defined in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985, is transmitted by the President to
Congress.
TITLE I—MARKET LOSS ASSIST-
ANCE FOR CONTRACT COM-
MODITIES
SEC. 101. MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR CONTRACT COM-
MODITIES
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall
use not more than $5,544,453,000 for assistance to own-
ers and producers on a farm who are eligible for final pay-
ments for fiscal year 1999 under a production flexibility
contract for the farm under the Agricultural Market Tran-
sition Act (7 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) to partially compensate
the owners and producers for the loss of markets for the
1999 crop of a commodity.
(b) AMOUNT.—The amount of assistance made avail-
able to owners and producers on a farm under this section
shall be proportional to the amount of the contract pay-
ment received by the owners and producers for fiscal year
1999 under a production flexibility contract for the farm
under the Agricultural Market Transition Act.
(c) TIME
FOR PAYMENT.—The assistance made
available under this section for an eligible owner or pro-
ducer shall be made as soon as practicable after the date
of enactment of this Act.
(d) USE OF COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.—
Subject to subsection (e), the Secretary shall use the
funds, facilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit
Corporation to carry out this section.
TITLE II—MARKET LOSS ASSIST-
ANCE FOR SOYBEANS AND
OTHER OILSEEDS
SEC. 201. MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR SOYBEANS AND
OTHER OILSEEDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the Secretary of Agriculture shall use not less
than $475,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Cor-
poration to make payments to producers of the 1999 crop
of oilseeds that are eligible to obtain a marketing assist-
ance loan under section 131 of the Agricultural Market
Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7231).
(b) COMPUTATION.—A payment to producers on a
farm 
under 
this 
section 
shall 
be 
computed 
by
multiplying—
(1) a payment rate determined by the Sec-
retary; by
(2) the quantity of oilseeds that the producers
on the farm are eligible to place under loan under
section 131 of that Act.
(c) LIMITATION.—Payments made under this section
shall be considered to be contract payments for the pur-
poses of section 1001(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985
(7 U.S.C. 1308(1)).
TITLE III—REMOVAL OF TRADE
SANCTIONS
SEC. 301. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.
Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Comptroller General shall—
(1) conduct—
(A) a detailed examination of all economic
sanctions affecting United States businesses,
differentiating between unilateral and multilat-
eral economic sanctions;
(B) an assessment of comparable measures
undertaken by other countries in each instance;
(C) an evaluation of the effectiveness of
both unilateral and multilateral economic sanc-
tions in meeting stated policy goals;
(D) an assessment on humanitarian condi-
tions within sanctioned countries, evaluating
how sanctions have affected particular states;
(E) an assessment of the relationship with
United States allies as a consequence of unilat-
eral economic sanctions;
(F) an examination of the economic impact
of sanctions on United States producers and ex-
porters; and
(G) an assessment of potential countries
that may be sanctioned under existing United
States law or executive authority, but which are
not now subject to sanctions (whether because
of presidentially exercised waivers, or statutes
or executive orders not being applied); and
(2) submit to the Committee on International
Relations and the Committee on Agriculture of the
House of Representatives and to the Committee on
Foreign Relations and the Committee on Agri-
culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a re-
port on the matters addressed in paragraph (1).
SEC. 302. PROHIBITION ON UNILATERAL AGRICULTURAL
OR MEDICAL SANCTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the President shall not restrict or otherwise
prohibit any exports (including restricted commercial or
Federal financing) of food, other agricultural products (in-
cluding fertilizer), medicines, or medical supplies or equip-
ment as part of any policy of existing or future unilateral
economic sanctions imposed against a foreign government.
(b) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.—The President
may waive, for periods of not more than 1 year each, the
applicability of any sanction under subsection (a) with re-
spect to a foreign country or entity if the President, with
respect to each such waiver—
(1) determines that the national security so re-
quires; and
(2) transmits to the Congress that determina-
tion, together with a detailed description of the rea-
sons therefor, including an explanation of how the
sanction will further the national security.
SEC. 303. ANNUAL REPORTS BY SECRETARY OF AGRI-
CULTURE.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Con-
gress, by not later than May 1 of each year, a report con-
taining the following:
(1) The Secretary’s assessment of all markets
where United States exports of agricultural commod-
ities are limited because of multilateral or unilateral
economic sanctions, including specific commodities
affected.
(2) The economic impact on producers of the
commodities specified under paragraph (1).
(3) An assessment of the extent to which dis-
placed United States commodities are being supplied
by foreign competitors.
(4) The expected longer-term consequences of
interrupting United States exports.
(5) Any assistance provided by the Foreign Ag-
ricultural Service to offset lost markets due to such
sanctions.
SEC. 304. ACTIONS BY DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall expand agricul-
tural export assistance under United States market devel-
opment, food assistance, or export promotion programs to
offset all projected losses of agricultural commodity mar-
kets from unilateral or multilateral sanctions identified
under section 303, to the maximum extent permitted by
law and by the obligations of the United States under the
Agreement on Agriculture referred to in section 101(d)(2)
of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C.
3511(d)(2)).
SEC. 305. DEFINITION.
As used in this title, the term ‘‘unilateral economic
sanction’’ means any restriction or condition on economic
activity with respect to a foreign country or foreign entity
that is imposed by the United States for reasons of foreign
policy or national security, except in a case in which the
United States imposes the measure pursuant to a multilat-
eral regime and the other members of that regime have
agreed to impose substantially equivalent measures.
TITLE 
IV—TEMPORARY 
RE-
MOVAL OF LIMIT ON LOAN
DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS AND
MARKETING LOAN GAINS
SEC. 401. TEMPORARY REMOVAL OF LIMIT ON AUTHOR-
IZED AMOUNT OF MARKETING LOAN GAINS
AND LOAN DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS.
Section 1001(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985
(7 U.S.C. 1308(2)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new sentence: ‘‘However, this limitation shall not
apply during the 1999 and 2000 crop years.’’.
TITLE V—UPLAND COTTON
PRICE COMPETITIVENESS
SEC. 501. UPLAND COTTON PRICE COMPETITIVENESS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 136(a) of the Agricultural
Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7236(a)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or cash pay-
ments’’ and inserting ‘‘or cash payments, at the op-
tion of the recipient,’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘3 cents per pound’’ each place
it appears and inserting ‘‘1.25 cents per pound’’;
(3) in the first sentence of paragraph (3)(A), by
striking ‘‘owned by the Commodity Credit Corpora-
tion in such manner, and at such price levels, as the
Secretary determines will best effectuate the pur-
poses of cotton user marketing certificates’’ and in-
serting ‘‘owned by the Commodity Credit Corpora-
tion or pledged to the Commodity Credit Corpora-
tion as collateral for a loan in such manner, and at
such price levels, as the Secretary determines will
best effectuate the purposes of cotton user mar-
keting certificates, including enhancing the competi-
tiveness and marketability of United States cotton’’;
and
(4) by striking paragraph (4).
(b) ENSURING THE AVAILABILITY OF UPLAND COT-
TON.—Section 136(b) of the Agricultural Market Transi-
tion Act (7 U.S.C. 7236(b)) is amended—
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The President shall
carry out an import quota program during the
period ending July 31, 2003, as provided in this
subsection.
‘‘(B) PROGRAM
REQUIREMENTS.—Except
as provided in subparagraph (C), whenever the
Secretary determines and announces that for
any consecutive 4-week period, the Friday
through Thursday average price quotation for
the lowest-priced United States growth, as
quoted for Middling (M) 13⁄32-inch cotton, deliv-
ered C.I.F. Northern Europe, adjusted for the
value of any certificate issued under subsection
(a), exceeds the Northern Europe price by more
than 1.25 cents per pound, there shall imme-
diately be in effect a special import quota.
‘‘(C) TIGHT
DOMESTIC
SUPPLY.—During
any month for which the Secretary estimates
the season-ending United States upland cotton
stocks-to-use ratio, as determined under sub-
paragraph (D), to be below 16 percent, the Sec-
retary, in making the determination under sub-
paragraph (B), shall not adjust the Friday
through Thursday average price quotation for
the lowest-priced United States growth, as
quoted for Middling (M) 13⁄32-inch cotton, deliv-
ered C.I.F. Northern Europe, for the value of
any certificates issued under subsection (a).
‘‘(D) SEASON-ENDING
UNITED
STATES
STOCKS-TO-USE
RATIO.—For the purposes of
making estimates under subparagraph (C), the
Secretary shall, on a monthly basis, estimate
and report the season-ending United States up-
land cotton stocks-to-use ratio, excluding pro-
jected raw cotton imports but including the
quantity of raw cotton that has been imported
into the United States during the marketing
year.’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(7) LIMITATION.—The quantity of cotton en-
tered into the United States during any marketing
year under the special import quota established
under this subsection may not exceed the equivalent
of 5 week’s consumption of upland cotton by domes-
tic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate of
the 3 months immediately preceding the first special
import quota established in any marketing year.’’.
TITLE VI—MARKET LOSS ASSIST-
ANCE FOR LIVESTOCK AND
DAIRY PRODUCERS
SEC. 601. ASSISTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND DAIRY PRO-
DUCERS.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall use $325,000,000
of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to provide
assistance to livestock and dairy producers in a manner
determined by the Secretary.
TITLE 
VII—EMERGENCY
CONCESSIONAL 
SALES 
AND
DONATIONS
SEC. 701. EMERGENCY CONCESSIONAL SALES AND DONA-
TIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall
use $950,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Cor-
poration to carry out a purchase and donation or
concessional sales initiative to promote the export of addi-
tional quantities of United States agricultural commod-
ities using programs established under—
(1) the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter
Act (15 U.S.C. 714 et seq.);
TITLE IX—EARLY AVAILABILITY
OF AMTA PAYMENTS
SEC. 901. AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT IN FULL OF
REMAINING PAYMENTS UNDER PRODUCTION
FLEXIBILITY CONTRACTS.
Section 112(d)(3) of the Agricultural Market Transi-
tion Act (7 U.S.C. 7212(d)(3)) is amended—
(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘FOR
FISCAL YEAR 1999’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘for fiscal year 1999’’ and in-
serting ‘‘for any of fiscal years 1999 through 2002’’;
and
(3) by striking ‘‘that fiscal year’’ and inserting
‘‘that same fiscal year’’.
TITLE X—CROP INSURANCE
SEC. 1001. CROP INSURANCE PREMIUM DISCOUNT FOR 2000
CROP YEAR.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall use $500,000,000
of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to assist
agricultural producers in purchasing additional coverage
for the 2000 crop year under the Federal Crop Insurance
Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).
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