[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2696 Introduced in House (IH)]


104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2696

To extend and revise the agricultural price support programs for rice, 
    upland cotton, feed grains, wheat, and oilseeds, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 30, 1995

  Mr. Minge introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To extend and revise the agricultural price support programs for rice, 
    upland cotton, feed grains, wheat, and oilseeds, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Agricultural 
Equity Act of 1995''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings, policy, and purpose.
Sec. 3. Sense of Congress on ending the Federal deficit.
Sec. 4. Nonrecourse loans and deficiency payments for the 1996 through 
                            2002 crops of rice, upland cotton, feed 
                            grains, wheat, and oilseeds.
Sec. 5. Review of status and future of production agriculture.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS, POLICY, AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) A sound and prosperous economy in the United States is 
        dependent on American agriculture and related industries, 
        including producers, processors, handlers, manufacturers, 
        marketers, transporters, and the banking and credit industry.
            (2) American agriculture and related industries account for 
        over 21,000,000 jobs and approximately 16 percent, or over 
        $41,000,000,000,000, of the gross domestic product.
            (3) Because of the combined effort of American agriculture 
        and related industries, consumers in the United States enjoy a 
        dependable supply of food and fiber at fair prices.
            (4) The future of American agriculture is dependent on the 
        continued viability of the American agricultural producer, the 
        underpinning of the national economy.
            (5) Agricultural producers must receive a fair return on 
        their productivity and investment in an industry characterized 
        by continued subsidized foreign competition and wide 
        fluctuations in production and prices due to weather and 
        related factors.
            (6) One of the essential elements of a sound agricultural 
        economy is the ability of the United States to compete in the 
        world market.
            (7) Exports of United States agricultural commodities are 
        expected to reach nearly $50,000,000,000 in 1995 and contribute 
        about $20,000,000,000 to the United States balance of trade.
            (8) Agricultural exports account for over 1,000,000 
        American jobs.
            (9) Commodity Credit Corporation outlays for farm programs 
        have declined from a high of approximately $26,000,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 1986 to less than $9,000,000,000 for fiscal year 
        1995, a reduction of over 65 percent that is unique among the 
        many mandatory spending programs of the Federal Government.
            (10) According to the Congressional Budget Office, farm 
        program outlays are projected to remain below the outlay level 
        for fiscal year 1995 for the next 5 years and continue to 
        decline by nearly 8 percent, even if no changes are made in 
        current law for existing farm programs.
    (b) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States that--
            (1) continued Federal Government support is necessary to 
        provide stability for American agricultural producers to--
                    (A) enable the producers to continue to provide 
                consumers with a steady and dependable supply of food 
                and fiber at fair prices;
                    (B) enhance farmer and rancher profitability;
                    (C) encourage young farmers to stay on the farm;
                    (D) maintain the competitiveness of the United 
                States in the world market; and
                    (E) otherwise preserve the underpinnings of a sound 
                agricultural economy; and
            (2) reductions in farm program spending should be made in a 
        fair and equitable manner in order to meet the objective of 
        achieving a balanced budget for the Federal Government in a 
        manner consistent with paragraph (1).
    (c) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish agricultural 
price support and production adjustment programs for the 1996 through 
2002 crop years that provide a structure for a sound agricultural 
economy in a manner consistent with subsection (b).

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENDING THE FEDERAL DEFICIT.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the continuation of significant Federal budgetary 
        deficits harms the economic well-being of the United States and 
        is detrimental to the development of sound, long-term 
        agricultural policy;
            (2) agricultural price support and production adjustment 
        programs are necessary for the continued economic health of 
        United States agriculture, which must compete in international 
        markets against subsidized foreign competition; and
            (3) agricultural price support and production adjustment 
        programs should be--
                    (A) implemented, to the maximum extent practicable, 
                in a manner that is consistent with the primary goal of 
                the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 
                1996 (H. Con. Res. 67, agreed to June 29, 1995) to end 
                Federal budget deficits; and
                    (B) modified, as necessary, to ensure that the 
                programs comply with applicable budget reconciliation 
                instructions in the concurrent resolution that are 
                designed to end Federal budget deficits, in a manner 
                consistent with section 306 of the concurrent 
                resolution.

SEC. 4. NONRECOURSE LOANS AND DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS FOR THE 1996 THROUGH 
              2002 CROPS OF RICE, UPLAND COTTON, FEED GRAINS, WHEAT, 
              AND OILSEEDS.

    (a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) Covered commodities.--The term ``covered commodities'' 
        means rice, upland cotton, feed grains, wheat, and oilseeds.
            (2) Feed grains.--The term ``feed grains'' means corn, 
        grain sorghum, barley, and oats.
            (3) Oilseeds.--The term ``oilseeds'' means soybeans, 
        sunflower seeds, canola, rapeseed, safflower, flaxseed, mustard 
        seed, and such other oilseeds as the Secretary may determine 
        appropriate for inclusion.
    (b) Nonrecourse Loans.--
            (1) Price support loans.--The Secretary shall make 
        available to producers on a farm nonrecourse loans for each of 
        the 1996 through 2002 crops of each covered commodity at the 
        level specified in paragraph (2). Acreage covered shall include 
        both mandatory and voluntary flex acres.
            (2) Loan levels.--The loan levels for each covered 
        commodity shall be 100 percent of the simple average price 
        received by producers of that covered commodity, as determined 
        by the Secretary, during the marketing years for the preceding 
        5 crops of that covered commodity, excluding the year in which 
        the average price was the highest and the year in which the 
        average price was the lowest in the period. The Secretary may 
        adjust the loan level for a particular covered commodity to 
        reflect changes in the market price of that covered commodity.
            (3) Prohibitions.--The Secretary shall not make available a 
        marketing loan or loan deficiency payment to any producer on a 
        farm for any of the 1996 through 2002 crops of covered 
        commodities.
    (c) Deficiency Payments.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall make deficiency 
        payments available to producers for each of the 1996 through 
        2002 crops of each covered commodity (other than oilseeds) in 
        an amount computed by multiplying--
                    (A) the payment rate for the covered commodity;
                    (B) the payment acres for the crop of that covered 
                commodity; and
                    (C) the farm program yield for the crop of that 
                covered commodity for the farm.
            (2) Payment rate.--
                    (A) Minimum established price.--The minimum 
                established price in effect for the 1991 through 1995 
                crops of each covered commodity shall continue in 
                effect for the 1996 through 2002 crops of that covered 
                commodity.
                    (B) Establishment of rate.--The payment rate for 
                each of the 1996 through 2002 crops of each covered 
                commodity shall be the amount by which the target price 
                exceeds the higher of--
                            (i) the loan level established for that 
                        covered commodity under subsection (b);
                            (ii) the average market price of that 
                        covered commodity.
            (3) Payment acres.--Payment acres for a crop of a covered 
        commodity shall equal base acres less idled (set aside) and 
        flex (mandatory and optional) acres.
            (4) Elimination of \0/85\ and \50/85\ programs.--The 
        Secretary shall discontinue the partial payment programs, 
        variously known as \0/85\, \50/85\, \0/92\, and \50/92\, 
        effective with crop year 1996.
    (d) Flexibility (`Flex') Program.--The Secretary shall increase 
producer planting flexibility--
            (1) by increasing the mandatory flex acreage percentage for 
        each covered commodity from 15 percent to 20 percent; and
            (2) by offering producers an additional voluntary increase 
        in flex acres of between 10 percent to 25 percent.
    (e) Crop Insurance Requirement.--As a condition for eligibility for 
crop loans and deficiency payments under this section, the producers on 
a farm shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insurance coverage in 
accordance with section 508(b) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 
U.S.C. 1508(b)).
    (f) Conforming Repeals.--Sections 101B (rice), 103B (cotton), 105B 
(feed grains), 107B (wheat), and 205 (oilseeds) of the Agricultural Act 
of 1949 are repealed. The repeal of such sections shall not affect the 
authority of the Secretary to carry out a price support or production 
adjustment program for any of the 1991 through 1995 crops of a covered 
commodity under a provision of law in effect immediately before the 
date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. REVIEW OF STATUS AND FUTURE OF PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE.

    (a) Scope of Review.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a 
comprehensive review of the status and future of production agriculture 
and farming communities in the United States and the extent to which 
the program changes made by this Act will impact production agriculture 
and farming communities in the United States. The review shall include 
the following--
            (1) an assessment of the food security situation in the 
        United States in the areas of trade, consumer prices, 
        international competitiveness of United States production 
        agriculture, food supplies, and humanitarian relief;
            (2) an assessment of current and future farm land values 
        and agricultural producer incomes;
            (3) an assessment of the extent to which regulatory relief 
        for agricultural producers has been enacted and implemented, 
        including the application of cost-benefit principles in the 
        issuance of agricultural regulations;
            (4) an assessment of the extent to which tax relief for 
        agricultural producers has been enacted in the form of capital 
        gains tax reductions, estate tax exemptions, and mechanisms to 
        average tax loads over high- and low-income years;
            (5) an assessment of any Federal Government interference in 
        agricultural export markets, such as the imposition of trade 
        embargoes, and the degree of implementation and success of 
        international trade agreements;
            (6) identification of the appropriate future relationship 
        of the Federal Government with production agriculture after 
        2002;
            (7) identification of the long-term goals for production 
        agriculture and farming communities in the United States and 
        recommendations for actions needed to achieve those goals; and
            (8) an assessment of manpower and infrastructure 
        requirements of the Department of Agriculture as the result of 
        program changes made by this Act.
    (b) Legislative Proposals.--As part of the comprehensive review 
required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall develop specific 
legislative proposals to implement any recommendations being made.
    (c) Reports.--The Secretary shall report the findings and 
recommendations made under subsection (a) to the President, to the 
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives, and to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, not 
later than March 31, 1997.
    (d) Hearings.--The Secretary may, for the purpose of carrying out 
this section, conduct such hearings and receive such evidence as the 
Secretary considers appropriate.
    (e) Assistance From Other Agencies.--The Secretary may secure from 
other departments and agencies of the Federal Government such 
information as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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