IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 14
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the actions needed to address
the disastrous decline in hog prices for American pork producers and
to relieve the widespread economic hardship currently being suffered
by these producers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 19, 1999
Ms. KAPTUR (for herself and Mr. LATHAM) submitted the following
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the actions
needed to address the disastrous decline in hog prices
for American pork producers and to relieve the wide-
spread economic hardship currently being suffered by
these producers.
Whereas the price of live hogs in United States markets had
declined by 72 percent since July 1997;
Whereas on December 14, 1998, the price of live hogs dipped
below $10 per hundredweight for the first time since
1955, and American pork producers were losing between
$55 and $70 on every pig they sold;
•HCON 14 IH
Whereas, adjusted for inflation, prices paid to American pork
producers for live hogs had not been this low since the
Great Depression;
Whereas, based on estimates calculated by the Department of
Agriculture, American pork producers were losing ap-
proximately $144,000,000 in equity per week and lost
more than $2,500,000,000 in 1998;
Whereas the decline in hog prices is threatening the livelihood
of tens of thousands of farm families in the United
States and the very existence of suppliers, equipment
dealers, and main street businesses in rural communities
all across America;
Whereas, while pork producers have faced declining prices for
live hogs, average retail prices in the United States for
pork and pork products remain roughly the same;
Whereas the export of American pork and pork products in
1998 increased by 28 percent despite the loss of markets
in Asia and Russia;
Whereas a primary cause of the decline in hog prices in the
United States is the increased supply of live hogs and in-
creased hog exports from Canada to the United States
and a reduction in domestic slaughter capacity;
Whereas the slaughter plant bottleneck has been exacerbated
by the approximately 100,000 Canadian hogs that are
being exported to the United States for slaughter each
week, which represents a 37 percent increase in Canadian
hog exports to the United States; and
Whereas, because of Canadian exports, the number of live
hogs exceeded the 383,000 daily slaughter capacity of
United States plants, thereby depriving American pork
•HCON 14 IH
producers of all leverage in bargaining for a fair price:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That, while the President and the Secretary
of Agriculture are to be commended for their efforts to
aid American pork producers during a time of unprece-
dented low prices for live hogs, it is the sense of Congress
that further assistance is urgently needed as follows:
(1) The President should consider forwarding
to Congress an emergency supplemental appropria-
tions request to enable the Farm Service Agency to
provide additional direct and guaranteed farm own-
ership loans, additional direct and guaranteed farm
operating loans, and additional interest rate assist-
ance for pork producers in the United States.
(2) The Secretary of Agriculture should prepare
and present to Congress a report, by February 1,
1999, evaluating the feasibility and cost of imple-
menting a disaster assistance program for pork pro-
ducers in the United States adversely affected by
low prices for live hogs, which could include—
(A) economic assistance for pork produc-
ers, subject to the gross income limitations ap-
plicable to other assistance programs of the De-
partment of Agriculture;
•HCON 14 IH
(B) expanded loan and debt restructuring
programs; and
(C) compensation to producers for markets
lost as a result of the increased export of for-
eign hogs to the United States.
(3) The Secretary of Agriculture should con-
tinue to facilitate donation and distribution of
United States pork and pork products for humani-
tarian purposes.
(4) The United States Trade Representative
and other appropriate executive branch officials
should work with the Canadian Government to ad-
dress the numerous problems contributing to the in-
creased exports of Canadian pork and pork products
into the United States.
(5) The Secretary of Agriculture should take
appropriate steps to encourage increased utilization
and expansion of hog slaughter capacity in the
United States, including the establishment of addi-
tional processing facilities operated by small-business
concerns.
(6) The President should direct the Secretary
of Agriculture, the Attorney General, and the Sec-
retary of Commerce to investigate the noncompeti-
•HCON 14 IH
tive or antitrust practices in the hog slaughter in-
dustry.
(7) The Secretary of Agriculture should im-
prove price reporting in the domestic livestock indus-
try to ensure fair, open, and competitive markets for
American livestock producers.
(8) The President should ensure the immediate
implementation of the proposed rule set forth on
pages 51458–51488 of volume 63, number 186, of
the Federal Register (Friday, September 25, 1998),
which would, among other things, increase the avail-
ability of commercial credit for family size farmers
by streamlining the regulations governing the guar-
anteed farm loan programs of the Farm Service
Agency.
Æ