[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 26 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 26

 To provide a safety net for farmers and consumers and to promote the 
development of farmer-owned value added processing facilities, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 21, 1997

  Mr. Daschle (for himself, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Conrad, Mr. 
Kerrey, and Mr. Bingaman) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
                                Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide a safety net for farmers and consumers and to promote the 
development of farmer-owned value added processing facilities, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Agricultural Safety Net Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS.

    (a) In General.--Section 132 of the Agricultural Market Transition 
Act (7 U.S.C. 7232) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``be--'' and all that follows 
                through ``(A) not'' and inserting ``be not''; and
                    (B) by striking ``; but'' and all that follows 
                through ``per bushel'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``be--'' and all that follows 
                through ``(A) not'' and inserting ``be not''; and
                    (B) by striking ``; but'' and all that follows 
                through ``per bushel'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ``or more than 
        $0.5192 per pound'';
            (4) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by striking ``be--'' and all that follows 
                through ``(1) not'' and inserting ``be not''; and
                    (B) by striking ``; but'' and all that follows 
                through ``per pound''; and
            (5) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ``or more than 
                $5.26''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ``or more than 
                $0.093''.
    (b) Term of Loan.--Section 133 of the Agricultural Market 
Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7233) is amended by striking subsection (c) 
and inserting the following:
    ``(c) Extensions.--The Secretary may extend the term of a marketing 
assistance loan for any loan commodity for a period not to exceed 6 
months.''.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF CROP REVENUE INSURANCE.

    Section 508 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (9); and
                    (B) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph 
                (9); and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(o) Crop Revenue Insurance.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall offer a producer of 
        wheat, feed grains, soybeans, or such other commodity as the 
        Secretary considers appropriate insurance against loss of 
        revenue from prevented or reduced production of the commodity, 
        as determined by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Administration.--Revenue insurance under this 
        subsection shall--
                    ``(A) by offered by the Corporation or through a 
                reinsurance arrangement with a private insurance 
                company;
                    ``(B) offer at least a minimum level of coverage 
                that is an alternative to catastrophic crop insurance; 
                and
                    ``(C) be actuarially sound.''.

SEC. 4. PRIORITY FOR FARMER-OWNED VALUE-ADDED PROCESSING FACILITIES.

    Section 310B of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
U.S.C. 1932) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Priority for Farmer-Owned Value-Added Processing 
Facilities.--In approving applications for loans and grants authorized 
under this section, section 306(a)(11), and other applicable provisions 
of this title (as determined by the Secretary), the Secretary shall 
give a high priority to applications for projects that encourage 
farmer-owned value-added processing facilities.''.
                                 <all>