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payment of space rental and related costs in excess of the
amounts specified in this Act; nor shall this or any other
provision of law require a reduction in the level of rental
space or services below that of fiscal year 1996 or prohibit
an expansion of rental space or services with the use of
funds otherwise appropriated in this Act. Further, no
agency of the Department of Agriculture, from funds oth-
erwise available, shall reimburse the General Services Ad-
ministration for payment of space rental and related costs
provided to such agency at a percentage rate which is
greater than is available in the case of funds appropriated
in this Act.
SEC. 711. None of the funds in this Act shall be avail-
able to restrict the authority of the Commodity Credit
Corporation to lease space for its own use or to lease space
on behalf of other agencies of the Department of Agri-
culture when such space will be jointly occupied.
SEC. 712. With the exception of grants awarded
under the Small Business Innovation Development Act of
1982, Public Law 97–219, as amended (15 U.S.C. 638),
none of the funds in this Act shall be available to pay
indirect costs on research grants awarded competitively by
the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension
Service that exceed 14 percent of total Federal funds pro-
vided under each award.
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SEC. 713. Notwithstanding any other provisions of
this Act, all loan levels provided in this Act shall be consid-
ered estimates, not limitations.
SEC. 714. Appropriations to the Department of Agri-
culture for the cost of direct and guaranteed loans made
available in fiscal year 1997 shall remain available until
expended to cover obligations made in fiscal year 1997 for
the following accounts: the rural development loan fund
program account; the Rural Telephone Bank program ac-
count; the rural electrification and telecommunications
loans program account; and the rural economic develop-
ment loans program account.
SEC. 715. Such sums as may be necessary for fiscal
year 1997 pay raises for programs funded by this Act shall
be absorbed within the levels appropriated in this Act.
SEC. 716. (a) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICAN
ACT.—None of the funds made available in this Act may
be expended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in
expending the funds the entity will comply with sections
2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 10a–
10c; popularly known as the ‘‘Buy American Act’’).
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS; REQUIREMENT REGARD-
ING NOTICE.—
(1) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT
AND PRODUCTS.—In the case of any equipment or
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product that may be authorized to be purchased
with financial assistance provided using funds made
available in this Act, it is the sense of the Congress
that entities receiving the assistance should, in ex-
pending the assistance, purchase only American-
made equipment and products.
(2) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—
In providing financial assistance using funds made
available in this Act, the head of each Federal agen-
cy shall provide to each recipient of the assistance
a notice describing the statement made in paragraph
(1) by the Congress.
(c) PROHIBITION
OF CONTRACTS WITH PERSONS
FALSELY LABELING PRODUCTS AS MADE IN AMERICA.—
If it has been finally determined by a court or Federal
agency that any person intentionally affixed a label bear-
ing a ‘‘Made in America’’ inscription, or any inscription
with the same meaning, to any product sold in or shipped
to the United States that is not made in the United
States, the person shall be ineligible to receive any con-
tract or subcontract made with funds made available in
this Act, pursuant to the debarment, suspension, and ineli-
gibility procedures described in sections 9.400 through
9.409 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.
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SEC. 717. Notwithstanding the Federal Grant and
Cooperative Agreement Act, marketing services of the Ag-
ricultural Marketing Service and the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service may use cooperative agreements
to reflect a relationship between Agricultural Marketing
Service or the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
and a State or Cooperator to carry out agricultural mar-
keting programs or to carry out programs to protect the
Nation’s animal and plant resources.
SEC. 718. None of the funds in this Act may be used
to retire more than 5% of the Class A stock of the Rural
Telephone Bank or to maintain any account or subaccount
within the accounting records of the Rural Telephone
Bank the creation of which has not specifically been au-
thorized by statute.
SEC. 719. None of the funds appropriated or other-
wise made available by this Act may be used to provide
food stamp benefits to households whose benefits are cal-
culated using a standard deduction greater than the
standard deduction in effect for fiscal year 1995.
SEC. 720. None of the funds made available in this
Act may be used to provide assistance to, or to pay the
salaries of personnel who carry out a market promotion/
market access program pursuant to section 203 of the Ag-
ricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5623) that pro-
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vides assistance to the U.S. Mink Export Development
Council or any mink industry trade association.
SEC. 721. None of the funds appropriated or other-
wise made available by this Act shall be used to enroll
in excess of 130,000 acres in the fiscal year 1997 wetlands
reserve program, as authorized by 16 U.S.C. 3837.
SEC. 722. Of the funds made available by this Act,
not more than $1,000,000 shall be used to cover necessary
expenses of activities related to all advisory committees,
panels, commissions, and task forces of the Department
of Agriculture except for panels used to comply with nego-
tiated rule makings.
SEC. 723. None of the funds appropriated or other-
wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the
salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out an export
enhancement program if the aggregate amount of funds
and/or 
commodities 
under 
such 
program 
exceeds
$100,000,000.
SEC. 724. None of the funds appropriated or other-
wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the
salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a farm-
land protection program in excess of $2,000,000 author-
ized by section 388 of Public Law 104–127.
SEC. 725. None of the funds appropriated or other-
wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the
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salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a wildlife
habitat incentives program authorized by section 387 of
Public Law 104–127.
SEC. 726. None of the funds appropriated or other-
wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the
salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a con-
servation farm option program in excess of $2,000,000 au-
thorized by section 335 of Public Law 104–127.
SEC. 727. None of the funds appropriated or other-
wise made available to the Department of Agriculture
shall be used to transmit or otherwise make available to
any non-Department of Agriculture employee questions or
responses to questions that are a result of information re-
quested for the appropriations hearing process.
SEC. 728. None of the funds made available in this
Act may be used to pay the salaries of employees of the
Department of Agriculture who make payments pursuant
to a production flexibility contract entered into under sec-
tion 111 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re-
form Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–127; 7 U.S.C. 7211)
when it is made known to the Federal official having au-
thority to obligate or expend such funds that the land cov-
ered by that production flexibility contract is not being
used for the production of an agricultural commodity or
is not devoted to a conserving use, unless it is also made