[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5367 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5367

  To require the implementation of the recommendations of the General 
 Accounting Office on improving the administration of the Packers and 
        Stockyards Act, 1921, by the Department of Agriculture.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 3, 2000

  Mr. Ganske (for himself and Mr. Gutknecht) introduced the following 
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the implementation of the recommendations of the General 
 Accounting Office on improving the administration of the Packers and 
        Stockyards Act, 1921, by the Department of Agriculture.

    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 ``Packers and Stockyards Enforcement 
Improvement Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVED INVESTIGATIVE AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES UNDER THE 
              PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS ACT, 1921.

    (a) Implementation of General Accounting Office Recommendations.--
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall implement the recommendations contained 
in the report issued by the General Accounting Office entitled 
``Packers and Stockyards Programs: Actions Needed to Improve 
Investigations of Competitive Practices'', GAO/RCED-00-242, dated 
September 21, 2000.
    (b) Consultation.--During the implementation period referred to in 
subsection (a), and for such an additional time period as needed to 
assure effective implementation of the recommendations contained in the 
report referred to in such subsection, the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall consult and work with the Department of Justice and the Federal 
Trade Commission in order to--
            (1) implement the recommendations in the report regarding 
        investigation management, operations, and case methods 
        development processes; and
            (2) effectively identify and investigate complaints of 
        unfair and anti-competitive practices in violation of the 
        Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), and 
        enforce the Act.
    (c) Training.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall develop and 
implement a training program for staff of the Department of Agriculture 
engaged in the investigation of complaints of unfair and anti-
competitive activity in violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 
1921. In developing the training program, the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall draw on existing training materials and programs available at the 
Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, to the extent 
practicable.
    (d) Implementation Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to 
Congress a report describing the actions taken to comply with this 
section.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT.

    Title IV of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 415 (7 U.S.C. 229) as section 
        416; and
            (2) by inserting after section 414 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 415. ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF CATTLE AND HOG INDUSTRIES.

    ``Not later than March 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit 
to Congress and make publicly available a report that--
            ``(1) assesses the general economic state of the cattle and 
        hog industries; and
            ``(2) identifies business practices or market operations or 
        activities in those industries that represent possible 
        violations of this Act or are inconsistent with the goals of 
        this Act.''.
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