[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4508 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4508

  To amend the Agricultural Act of 1970 to authorize the provision of 
  monetary assistance for the purpose of alleviating the distress of 
          agricultural producers caused by natural disasters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 6, 1998

  Mr. Stenholm (for himself, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Lucas of Oklahoma, Mr. 
Johnson of Wisconsin, Mr. Berry, Mr. Frost, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Thompson, 
 Mrs. Clayton, Mrs. Thurman, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Boswell, Mr. 
  Hinojosa, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Turner, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. 
   McIntyre, and Mr. Boyd) introduced the following bill; which was 
                referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Agricultural Act of 1970 to authorize the provision of 
  monetary assistance for the purpose of alleviating the distress of 
          agricultural producers caused by natural disasters.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Temporary Emergency Agriculture 
Relief Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. USE OF AUTHORITY UNDER DISASTER RESERVE LAW TO PROVIDE MONETARY 
              ASSISTANCE TO ALLEVIATE DISTRESS OF AGRICULTURAL 
              PRODUCERS CAUSED BY NATURAL DISASTERS.

    (a) Funding Sources and Use of Funds.--Section 813 of the 
Agricultural Act of 1970 (7 U.S.C. 1427a) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsections (b) and (d);
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (e), (f), (g), and 
        (h) as subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), respectively;
            (3) in subsection (b) (as so redesignated), by striking 
        ``the President'' and inserting ``the Secretary'';
            (4) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated), by adding at 
        the end the following new sentence: ``Any funds appropriated 
        for the purposes of this section may be used, at the discretion 
        of the Secretary, to make cash payments to agricultural 
        producers for the purpose of alleviating distress caused by a 
        natural disaster.''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(g) The Secretary may use the funds, facilities, and authorities 
of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make cash payments to 
agricultural producers for the purpose of alleviating distress caused 
by a natural disaster.''.
    (b) Assistance for Agricultural Producers.--Subsection (a) of such 
section is amended by inserting ``of agricultural producers'' after 
``distress''.
    (c) Relationship to Federal Crop Insurance Program.--Such section 
is further amended by inserting after subsection (g), as added by 
subsection (a)(5), the following new subsection:
    ``(h) In providing assistance using funds made available under 
subsection (f) or (g), the Secretary shall ensure that the provision of 
such assistance--
            ``(1) is consistent with the objectives of the Federal Crop 
        Insurance Program; and
            ``(2) does not undermine participation in the Federal Crop 
        Insurance Program.''.
    (d) Period of Authorization.--Such section is further amended by 
inserting after subsection (h), as added by subsection (c), the 
following new subsection:
    ``(i) The authority to make cash payments to agricultural producers 
using funds made available under subsection (g) expires on September 
30, 1999.''.
    (e) Coverage for 1998 Losses.--In using section 813 of the 
Agricultural Act of 1970 (7 U.S.C. 1427a), as amended by this section, 
to provide monetary assistance to alleviate the distress of 
agricultural producers caused by natural disasters, the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall include losses occurring in 1998.
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