[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1436 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1436

To amend the Agricultural Market Transition Act to provide support for 
   United States agricultural producers that is equal to the support 
provided to agricultural producers by the European Union, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 26, 1999

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Agricultural Market Transition Act to provide support for 
   United States agricultural producers that is equal to the support 
provided to agricultural producers by the European Union, 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 ``Farm Income and Trade Equity Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. TRANSITIONAL INTERNATIONAL MARKETING EQUITY PAYMENTS.

    Subtitle B of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7211 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 119. TRANSITIONAL INTERNATIONAL MARKETING EQUITY PAYMENTS.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than September 30, 1999, an owner or 
producer subject to a contract that is actively engaged in farming may 
make a 1-time election for each of the 1999 and subsequent fiscal years 
to--
            ``(1) receive a payment for a loan commodity under this 
        section;
            ``(2) receive a marketing assistance loan for the loan 
        commodity based on the loan rate established under section 
        132(g); and
            ``(3) forfeit contract payments and marketing assistance 
        loans payable under other provisions of this subtitle and 
        subtitle C.
    ``(b) Payment Amount.--Subject to subsection (f), the amount of a 
payment made to an owner or producer for a crop of a loan commodity 
under this section shall be equal to the product obtained by 
multiplying--
            ``(1) the payment rate determined under subsection (c); by
            ``(2) the acreage base for the crop determined under 
        subsection (d); by
            ``(3) the payment yield for the crop for the farm 
        determined under subsection (e).
    ``(c) Payment Rate.--
            ``(1) Wheat, feed grains, and oilseeds.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The payment rate for a crop of 
                wheat, corn, barley, and oilseeds under subsection 
                (b)(1) shall be equal to the difference between--
                            ``(i) the European Union support level for 
                        the crop determined under this paragraph; and
                            ``(ii) the loan rate for a marketing 
                        assistance loan for the crop determined under 
                        section 132(g).
                    ``(B) European union support level.--The European 
                support level for a crop under subparagraph (A)(i) 
                shall be equal to the sum of--
                            ``(i) the intervention price paid by the 
                        European Union for the crop (in United States 
                        dollars) determined under subparagraph (C); and
                            ``(ii) the amount of compensatory payments 
                        paid by the European Union for the crop (in 
                        United States dollars) determined under 
                        subparagraph (D).
                    ``(C) Intervention price.--The intervention price 
                for a crop under subparagraph (B)(i) shall be 
                determined by--
                            ``(i) multiplying--
                                    ``(I) the European intervention 
                                price for the crop in euros per metric 
                                ton; by
                                    ``(II) the average European-United 
                                States exchange rate in dollars per 
                                euro during the immediately preceding 
                                12 months; and
                            ``(ii) dividing the product obtained under 
                        clause (i) by the number of bushels per metric 
                        ton for the crop.
                    ``(D) Compensatory payments.--The amount of 
                compensatory payments under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall 
                be determined by--
                            ``(i) multiplying--
                                    ``(I) the amount of compensatory 
                                payments made by the European Union for 
                                the crop in euros per metric ton; by
                                    ``(II) the average European-United 
                                States exchange rate in dollars per 
                                euro during the immediately preceding 
                                12 months; and
                            ``(ii) dividing the product obtained under 
                        clause (i) by the number of bushels per metric 
                        ton for the crop.
                    ``(E) Other feed grains.--The payment rate for a 
                crop of grain sorghum and oats, respectively, under 
                subsection (b)(1) shall be established at such level as 
                the Secretary determines is fair and reasonable in 
                relation to the payment rate for corn under this 
                paragraph, taking into consideration the feeding value 
                of the commodity in relation to corn.
            ``(2) Cotton and rice.--The payment rate for a crop of 
        upland cotton, extra long staple cotton, and rice, 
        respectively, under subsection (b)(1) shall be established at 
        such level as the Secretary determines is fair and reasonable 
        in relation to the payment rate for wheat under this paragraph, 
        taking into consideration the historical price 
relationship between the commodity and wheat (as determined by the 
Secretary).
            ``(3) Adjustment.--The Secretary may adjust the payment 
        rate for a crop of a loan commodity under this subsection to 
        provide support for owners and producers at a level that is 
        consistent with the amount of compensatory payments made by the 
        European Union for the loan commodity.
    ``(d) Acreage Base.--The acreage base for a crop of a loan 
commodity under subsection (b)(2) shall be 85 percent of the contract 
acreage.
    ``(e) Payment Yield.--The payment yield for a crop of a loan 
commodity under subsection (b)(3) shall be the farm program payment 
yield.
    ``(f) Maximum Amount of Payments and Loan Gains.--
            ``(1) Limitation on payments.--For any fiscal year, the 
        total amount of payments made under subsection (b)(1) to a 
        person may not exceed $40,000.
            ``(2) Limitation on marketing loan gains.--For any crop 
        year, the total amount of any gain realized by a person from 
        repaying marketing assistance loans under subsection (a)(2) for 
        1 or more loan commodities at a lower level than the original 
        loan rate established for the loan commodities under section 
        132 (other than subsection (g)) shall be $75,000.
            ``(3) Regulation.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall promulgate a 
                regulation--
                            ``(i) defining the term `person' for 
                        purposes of this subsection that ensures, to 
                        the maximum extent practicable, that 
                        individuals of the same family, entities under 
                        the ownership or control of the same 
                        corporation, or other related parties do not 
                        receive multiple payments or marketing 
                        assistance loans under subsection (a); and
                            ``(ii) prescribing such rules as the 
                        Secretary determines are necessary to ensure a 
                        fair and reasonable application of the 
                        limitations established under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Related provisions.--The regulation shall be 
                consistent with paragraphs (5) through (7) of section 
                1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 
                1308).''.

SEC. 3. NONRECOURSE MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS.

    Section 132 of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 
7232) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Alternative Loan Rate.--Subject to section 119(f), 
notwithstanding subsections (a) through (f), in the case of an owner or 
producer described in section 119(a), the loan rate for a crop of a 
loan commodity shall be 100 percent of the simple average price 
received by producers of the loan commodity, as determined by the 
Secretary, during the marketing years for the immediately preceding 5 
crops of the loan commodity, excluding the year in which the average 
price was the highest and the year in which the average price was the 
lowest.''.

SEC. 4. INCREASED AGRICULTURAL TRADE ASSISTANCE IN RESPONSE TO DIRECT 
              EXPORT SUBSIDIES BY EUROPEAN UNION.

    Section 301(e) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 
5651(e)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``The'' and inserting ``Subject to 
                paragraph (3), the''; and
                    (B) by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting the 
                following:
                    ``(E) $3,850,000,000 for fiscal year 2000;''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Response to direct export subsidies by european 
        union.--
                    ``(A) Carryover.--Amounts made available under 
                subparagraphs (E) through (G) of paragraph (1) shall 
                remain available until expended.
                    ``(B) Minimum funding levels.--Subject to paragraph 
                (1) and subparagraphs (A) and (C), for each of fiscal 
                years 2000 through 2002, the Commodity Credit 
                Corporation shall make available to carry out the 
                program established under this section and the dairy 
                export incentive program established under section 153 
                of the Food Security Act of 1985 (15 U.S.C. 713a-14) an 
                amount that is equal to the amount the Secretary 
                determines the European Union will expend on direct 
                export subsidies for that fiscal year.
                    ``(C) Uruguay round trade agreement limitation.--
                For each of fiscal years 2000 through 2002, if the 
                Commodity Credit Corporation is unable to comply with 
                subparagraph (B) as the result of a limitation imposed 
                by the Uruguay Round Trade Agreement on Agriculture, 
                the Secretary shall increase the amount of assistance 
                made available to carry out title I of the Agricultural 
                Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 
                1701 et seq.) by an amount that, when combined with 
                assistance made available by the Corporation under 
                subparagraph (B), is equal to the amount that the 
                Secretary determines the European Union will expend on 
                direct export subsidies for that fiscal year.''.

SEC. 5. APPLICATION.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act shall apply beginning with the 1999 
crop of a loan commodity (as defined in section 102 of the Agricultural 
Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7202)).
    (b) Agricultural Trade Assistance.--The amendments made by section 
4 shall apply beginning with fiscal year 2000.
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