[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 277 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 277

 To express the sense of the Senate that, to ensure continuation of a 
  competitive free-market system in the cattle and beef markets, the 
Secretary of Agriculture and Attorney General should use existing legal 
 authorities to monitor commerce and practices in the cattle and beef 
     markets for potential antitrust violations, the Secretary of 
  Agriculture should increase reporting practices regarding domestic 
    commerce in the beef and cattle markets (including exports and 
                   imports), and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 9, 1996

   Mr. Craig (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Pressler, Mr. Burns, Mr. 
   Grassley, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Kempthorne, and Mr. Bond) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 To express the sense of the Senate that, to ensure continuation of a 
  competitive free-market system in the cattle and beef markets, the 
Secretary of Agriculture and Attorney General should use existing legal 
 authorities to monitor commerce and practices in the cattle and beef 
     markets for potential antitrust violations, the Secretary of 
  Agriculture should increase reporting practices regarding domestic 
    commerce in the beef and cattle markets (including exports and 
                   imports), and for other purposes.

Whereas historically high cattle supplies, low cattle prices, and high feed 
        costs have brought hardship to United States cattle producers: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION. 1. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF ANTITRUST RELATED ISSUES.

    It is the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of Agriculture and 
the Attorney General should--
            (1) increase monitoring of mergers and acquisitions in the 
        fed and nonfed beef packing sectors for potential antitrust 
        violations; and
            (2) investigate possible barriers to entry or expansion in 
        the beef packing sector.

SEC. 2. COLLECTION AND REPORTING FUNCTIONS.

    It is the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of Agriculture 
should--
            (1) to the extent practicable on a regional basis, improve 
        the collection, timeliness, and reporting of--
                    (A) contract, formula, and live cash cattle;
                    (B) captive supply cattle, including a definitional 
                change from every 14 to every 7 days;
                    (C) boxed beef prices;
                    (D) price differentials within Department of 
                Agriculture quality grades;
                    (E) all beef and live cattle exports and imports; 
                and
                    (F) weekly fed cattle value matrix; and
            (2) cooperate with the industry to improve collection and 
        reporting of--
                    (A) retail scanner data to develop a retail price 
                series that reflects both volume and price of all beef 
                sold at retail; and
                    (B) price and quantity data for United States beef 
                sold for consumption in the away-from-home market.

SEC. 3. SELF-REGULATION WITHIN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

    It is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) in the case of cattle that are not sold on a live cash 
        basis, a ``grid'' pricing structure should be utilized to 
        determine prices and spreads through competitive bidding not 
        more than 7 days prior to shipment; and
            (2) agricultural lenders should consider the total asset 
        portfolio, instead of merely the cash flow, of an entity 
        participating in the cattle and beef markets when evaluating 
        loan performance.

SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL BARRIERS TO TRADE.

    It is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the Secretary of Agriculture should continue to 
        identify and seek to eliminate unfair trade barriers and 
        subsidies affecting United States beef markets;
            (2) the United States and Canadian Governments should 
        expeditiously negotiate the elimination of animal health 
        barriers that are not based on sound science; and
            (3) the import ban on beef from cattle treated with 
        approved growth hormones imposed by the European Union should 
        be terminated.

SEC. 5. EMERGENCY LOAN GUARANTEES.

    It is the sense of the Senate that funding for emergency loan 
guarantees, which assist agricultural producers who have suffered 
economic loss due to a natural disaster or other economic conditions, 
should be funded.
                                 <all>