IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 602 
Commending the cooperative business model and the businesses, employees, 
and practitioners nationally and internationally who use it for their 
contributions to the economy and social impacts they make on their 
communities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 
Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Commending the cooperative business model and the busi-
nesses, employees, and practitioners nationally and inter-
nationally who use it for their contributions to the econ-
omy and social impacts they make on their communities. 
Whereas cooperatives are member-owned businesses, owned 
and governed by the people that use the business, create 
its products, or manage its operations, and operate under 
the 7 agreed upon principles of— 
(1) voluntary open membership; 
(2) democratic control; 
(3) owner economic participation; 
(4) autonomy and independence; 
(5) education, training, and information; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:41 Sep 27, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR602.IH
HR602
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 602 IH 
(6) cooperation among cooperatives; and 
(7) concern for community; 
Whereas cooperative entrepreneurs are often categorized into 
4 variations of the business model—consumer, producer, 
purchasing, and worker cooperatives—and can be found 
in almost every economic sector in the United States, 
throughout all 50 States and territories, and every con-
gressional district in the United States; 
Whereas internationally the principles of cooperation and the 
cooperative business model help smallholder farmers or-
ganize themselves and gain access to local and global 
markets, training, improved inputs, and aggregated sales 
and marketing; 
Whereas this provides farmers ownership over their economic 
decisions, a focus on learning, and a broader under-
standing of environmental and social concerns; 
Whereas cooperatives help farmers increase incomes and be-
come more resilient to shocks and stresses by working to-
gether to plan and prepare for the future; 
Whereas cooperative values stress self-help, diversity, and in-
clusion of vulnerable groups to ensure access to women 
and youth; 
Whereas annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropria-
tion bills fund the sole domestic program dedicated to co-
operative development to improve the economic condition 
of rural areas within the United States Department of 
Agriculture Rural Business-Cooperative Services under 
the Rural Cooperative Development Grant program, and 
grantee organizations use funding to provide technical as-
sistance to cooperatively owned businesses; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:41 Sep 27, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR602.IH
HR602
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 602 IH 
Whereas the Global Food Security Act identified cooperatives 
among key stakeholders who are actors engaged in efforts 
to advance global food security programs; 
Whereas annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
Drug Administration, and Related Agencies and State 
and Foreign Operations appropriation bills fund titles 
and programs within the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development and the Department of Agriculture 
under Development Assistance, Feed the Future, Food 
for Peace Title II, and the Cooperative Development Pro-
gram, and grantee organizations use funding to advance 
international development using cooperative principles 
and the cooperative model; 
Whereas Federal legislation authorized a cooperative research 
program with academic institutions to conduct research 
on the effects of all types of cooperatives on the national 
economy as part of the 2008 farm bill; 
Whereas an Interagency Working Group on Cooperative De-
velopment was established in the Agricultural Act of 
2014 and authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to co-
ordinate and chair an interagency working group to fos-
ter cooperative development and ensure coordination with 
Federal agencies and national and local cooperative orga-
nizations that have cooperative programs and interests, 
and has organized four meetings thus far; 
Whereas a bipartisan Congressional Cooperative Business 
Caucus unites Members of Congress in a cause to create 
a better informed electorate and a more educated public 
on the important role that cooperatives play in the na-
tional and international economy, to promote the cooper-
ative business model because it ensures consumers have 
access to high-quality goods and services at competitive 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:41 Sep 27, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR602.IH
HR602
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 602 IH 
prices and costs that better the lives of individuals, fami-
lies, and their communities, and to address and correct 
awareness challenges among the public and within the 
Government on what a co-op looks like, who are co-ops, 
where are co-ops, and why do people choose them; 
Whereas, the Census Bureau, as part of its 2017 Economic 
Census, included a question in its survey of all businesses 
asking if the business is organized as a cooperative which 
will yield both quantitative and qualitative data on the ef-
fects and importance of cooperatives across the American 
economy; 
Whereas the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives 
completed a research study in 2009, entitled, ‘‘Research 
on the Economic Impacts of Cooperatives’’, wherein they 
built a comprehensive list of all United States coopera-
tives, gathered economic data from cooperatives, analyzed 
the direct and indirect economic impacts of cooperatives, 
and developed approaches for measuring the unique eco-
nomic and social impacts of cooperatives; 
Whereas, in 2017, the University of Wisconsin Center for Co-
operatives found that there were 64,017 cooperatives in 
the United States operating in the commercial sales, 
marketing and production, financial services, social and 
public services, and utilities sectors; 
Whereas in the utility services sector, utility cooperatives are 
tasked with the delivery of public services such as elec-
tricity, water, telecommunications, and broadband, main-
ly throughout the rural United States, where investor- 
owned utility companies typically do not operate due to 
low profitability; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:41 Sep 27, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR602.IH
HR602
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 602 IH 
Whereas in the financial services sector, cooperatives includ-
ing credit unions, farm credit banks, and financing orga-
nizations that lend to cooperatives ensure that all revenue 
is funneled back into the business to lower interest rates 
and provide other benefits to its member-owners; 
Whereas in the insurance sector, the first cooperative was a 
mutual insurance company founded in 1752 by Benjamin 
Franklin; 
Whereas with no stockholders, policyholders vote in board 
elections and profits earned are cycled back into cost sav-
ing programs or returned as dividend payments; 
Whereas in purchasing and shared-service cooperatives, inde-
pendent and franchise businesses who rely on them 
thrive; 
Whereas in the agriculture sector, cooperatives account for a 
significant portion of the economic activity in the United 
States agriculture and food markets; 
Whereas these producer cooperatives collectively help farmers 
buy required supplies and services to operate their indi-
vidual farms and help more efficiently market their raw 
or processed products more than if they performed these 
duties individually; 
Whereas food cooperatives range in size from small, local 
buying clubs to multistore regional giants that go head- 
to-head with national chain stores; 
Whereas in the housing sector, housing cooperatives and resi-
dent-owned communities are an alternative to conven-
tional rental apartments, mobile home parks, and con-
dominiums; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:41 Sep 27, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR602.IH
HR602
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
•HRES 602 IH 
Whereas a housing cooperative owns the building or land and 
empowers each resident with ownership and responsi-
bility; 
Whereas housing cooperatives have roots dating to the late 
1800s and today are mostly concentrated in major cities 
like New York City, Chicago, and the District of Colum-
bia, and increasingly are becoming an alternative for stu-
dents at colleges throughout the United States; 
Whereas cooperatives allow residents of mobile home parks to 
collectively purchase the land they live on, providing sta-
bility and the opportunity to self-govern; 
Whereas, as of 2018, at least 220 mobile home communities 
have converted to a resident-owned model; 
Whereas in worker cooperatives, members both perform the 
work and govern the business; 
Whereas in recent years, many businesses are choosing to 
structure this way so that workers have greater control 
over the business in which they work and own; 
Whereas many sole proprietor, partnership, or family busi-
nesses are converting to worker-owned cooperatives when 
faced with a potential closure or buyout; 
Whereas cooperatives have the potential to ease the impend-
ing problem of baby boomer small business owners retir-
ing by transitioning employee-owned or consumer-owned 
cooperatives rather than closing the business when the 
owner retires; 
Whereas cooperatives are a proven strategy in helping people 
build a more inclusive economy that is more equitable, 
participatory, growing, sustainable, and stable; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:41 Sep 27, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR602.IH
HR602
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS