Date: 1993-09-28
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may Consume. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 2689. as reported by the Committee on Agriculture. extends the authorization of appropriations for the Federal Grain Inspection Service [FGIS]. an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA]. It also extends the authority of that agency to recover administrative and supervisory costs through the user fees it charges for services. Under the U.S. Grain Standards Act. the Federal Grain Inspection Service is responsible for setting standards that serve as a common language within the grain industry. FGIS oversees the official weighing and Inspection of all grain destined for the export market. The agency also monitors the weighing and inspection system for our Nations internal domestic markets. Mr. Speaker. the U.S. grain inspection system serves as the standard and model for the world. An official inspection certificate issued by FGIS facilitates commerce by allowing both buyer and seller to have confidence in the identified quantity and quality of any shipment of American grain that is entered Into trade. This legislation will make our current grain inspection system even better. . H.R. 2689. as reported and before the House. authorizes appropriations for the standardization and compliance activities of FGIS through fiscal year 1998. It also provides that user feeswhich the agency collects to cover the cost of providing weighing and Inspection servicesmay be calculated to include the recovery of administrative and supervisory costs through fiscal year 1998. The committee bill also authorizes FGIS to conduct pilot programs that allow for competition among agencies. designated by the Service. to carry out official Inspection and weighing services in the domestic market. Under the current provisions of the Grain Standards Act. each designated agency is authorized to provide these services exclusively for a given geographical area. This exclusivity was mandated byCongress in an effort to prevent market participants from grade shopping at competing Inspection agencies. The committee believes that FGIS has sufficient resources and expertise to prevent grade shopplng. The purpose of the pilot programs authorized by the bill is to determine whether or not competition will benefit the industry through lower fees for the weighing and inspection services that designated private agencies provide. This bill also continues our goal of eventually eliminating malespecific references. such as "he" and "his." that .appear in many of our agricultural laws. The bill eliminates all genderspecific references from the U.S. Grain Standards Act. Other provisions of the bill as reported would authorize FGIS to collect fees for the use of Its equipment and services by entities not involved in the grain industry. allow FGIS to issue inspector licenses to Individuals supervised under a contractual arrangement with official designated State agencies. reduce paperwork by eliminating the -current quarterly report to Congress on official complaints. and limit the value of any mementos offered or received by any FGIS employee who meets with an officikl representative of a foreign government to no more than $20. The bill increases the criminal penalties for firsttime violators who knowingly engage In prohibited acts. such as deceptive loading and manipulation and falsification of weights. The bill makes these violations felonies rather than misdemeanors. and carries with it a sentence of up to 12 monthsImprisonment or a $10.000 fine. or both. Mr. Speaker. the Committee on Agriculture considered proposals to regulate or prohibit grain handlers adding water to grain. The practice of adding water Is ostensibly done -to control accumulations of harmful. explosive grain dust. There are concerns within the industry. however. that some companies which use water as a dustcontrol method may be intentionally adding weight to the grain and thereby fraudulently misrepresenting its value. The Committee on Agriculture is very concerned about these allegations and intends to investigate the practice. The issue is- currently the subject of new rules being proposed by FGIS. The committee agreed to withhold taking legislative action to allow for the gathering of more information by. both FGIS and the committee itself. Mr. Speaker. -it would appear that the simple solution to this controversy is to ban the addition of water. Yet there is ample evidence -to suggest that the application of minute amounts of water is an effective method of controlling the accumulation of grain dust. Failure to control dust has led to massive explosions in grain elevators that cost workers their lives. The committee has been assured that PG0S. through Its rulemaking process. will give careful consideration to proposals that safeguard the lives and safety of industry employees while preserving the integrity of our grain marketing system. In the meantime. our committee will continue to conduct oversight and report our findings and any necessary legislation to the House. Mr. Speaker. this bill is straightforward and necessary. The authority for the agency to collect sufficient user fees to cover weighing and inspection services expires on September 30. 1993. and that is why we bring the bill to the floor today. I urge my colleagues "o support the passage of H.R. 289. Mr. Speaker I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from South Dakota . chairman of the subcommittee. who has done a tremendous amount of work. and certainly produced an excellent compilation of the legislation in order that we might reauthorize it.