[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1522 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1522

  To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to 
                          rural cooperatives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 12, 1997

  Mr. Harkin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to 
                          rural cooperatives.

    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 ``Rural Cooperative Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Rural cooperative.--The term ``rural cooperative'' 
        means an association of rural residents (as defined by the 
        Secretary) that--
                    (A) organize on a user-owned cooperative basis for 
                purposes of purchasing consumer goods, business 
                products and services, health care, utilities, 
                communications, child and day care, housing, credit, 
                insurance, or other goods or services; or
                    (B) market handicrafts or other member- or 
                cooperative-produced goods.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.

SEC. 3. RURAL COOPERATIVE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may carry out comprehensive programs 
to provide service, technical assistance, research, and education to 
members of rural cooperatives and persons desiring to organize rural 
coooperatives.
    (b) Types of Programs.--The programs under subsection (a) shall 
include programs to--
            (1) acquire, analyze, and disseminate economic, 
        statistical, and historical information regarding the progress, 
        organization, and business methods of rural cooperatives in the 
        United States and foreign countries;
            (2) conduct and publish studies of the economic, legal, 
        financial, social, and other phases of cooperation, which may 
        include analyses of the organization, operation, business 
        practices, management, financial, and merchandising problems of 
        rural cooperatives;
            (3) make surveys and analyses of the accounts and business 
        practices of representative rural cooperatives, which--
                    (A) shall be reported to the cooperatives so 
                surveyed; and
                    (B) with the consent of a cooperative, shall be 
                summarized, together with similar facts, and published 
                for the guidance of rural cooperatives and for the 
                purpose of assisting rural cooperatives in developing 
                methods of business and market analysis;
            (4) confer with and advise committees or groups of rural 
        residents that may desire to organize a rural cooperative and 
        make an economic survey and analysis of the facts surrounding 
        the activities of the proposed rural cooperative;
            (5)(A) promote the knowledge of rural cooperative 
        principles and practices; and
            (B) cooperate, in promoting such knowledge, with 
        educational agencies, rural cooperatives, and others; and
            (6)(A) conduct studies in the United States and foreign 
        countries; and
            (B) acquire and disseminate the information acquired and 
        any useful conclusions that may be drawn from the information 
        relating to the development and practice of rural cooperation.

SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as the Secretary 
considers necessary to carry out this Act.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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