Opinion ID: 448913
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Subcommittee's Invitation to IBP.

Text: 18 On June 29, 1979, Congressman Neal Smith from Iowa, chairman of the Subcommittee, invited IBP to send a spokesperson to testify before the Subcommittee during hearings scheduled for late July. In a letter to IBP's president, Robert Peterson, Congressman Smith wrote, 19 I wish to take this opportunity to offer you or any other officer who has personal knowledge of the firm's activities and who can speak on behalf of Iowa Beef Processors the opportunity to voluntarily appear and testify before the Subcommittee. Such a hearing would be conducted pursuant to the Rules of the Committee on Small Business, a copy of which is included with this letter. Essentially, the witness or witnesses appearing on behalf of Iowa Beef Processors would have the opportunity to appear under oath and present a written statement of reasonable length which would be made a part of the Subcommittee's hearing record. Following the submission of this written statement and an oral presentation of reasonable length, the witness or witnesses appearing on behalf of Iowa Beef Processors would be questioned by members of the Subcommittee. 20 Congressman Smith went on to advise Peterson that the questions can be expected to cover a broad range of topics and issues pertinent to the Subcommittee's inquiry[,]    undoubtedly includ[ing] matters raised by the so-called 'Bagley documents'   . In closing, Congressman Smith wrote: 21 As you know, a great deal of testimony received by this Subcommittee has been in regard to Iowa Beef Processors. If new legislation or rules are enacted to limit dominance by any companies in the meat industry or to ensure that enough competition remains in the industry to prevent undesirable economic consequences, it is clear that Iowa Beef Processors will be one of the companies most affected. 22 IBP did not respond to Congressman Smith's invitation before the Subcommittee reconvened on July 23, 1979. At that time, in his opening statement, Congressman Smith explained: 23 In the next several days we will closely examine certain areas of conduct in the industry in an attempt to learn how IBP, the largest meat packing company in the world, moved to its present position as the largest in the industry and with further expansion planned. Appearing under subpoena will be Hughes Bagley, a former vice president of IBP. We also will be introducing certain records and documents which we believe strongly corroborates [sic] the testimony which Mr. Bagley has given to the committee staff. 24 Congressman Smith went on to observe that, 25 It is apparent that much of this testimony during the next two days will focus directly on IBP. We wish to be sure to give everyone an opportunity to speak to this committee in our search for the truth. Accordingly on June 29, 1979, I wrote a letter to the President of IBP, Mr. Robert Peterson, inviting IBP to appear before this committee and present testimony under oath, after which time IBP would be questioned by members of the committee. While I am not criticizing them for not having done so, IBP has not yet responded to my invitation. The invitation is still open and I am assuming that we will be hearing from IBP in the next two or three days. 26