[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 802 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 802

  To provide for a gradual reduction in the loan rate for peanuts, to 
repeal peanut quotas for the 2002 and subsequent crops, and to require 
 the Secretary of Agriculture to purchase peanuts and peanut products 
         for nutrition programs only at the world market price.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 14, 1999

  Mr. Santorum (for himself, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Feingold, Mr. 
  DeWine, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Specter, and Ms. Collins) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for a gradual reduction in the loan rate for peanuts, to 
repeal peanut quotas for the 2002 and subsequent crops, and to require 
 the Secretary of Agriculture to purchase peanuts and peanut products 
         for nutrition programs only at the world market price.

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

SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN LOAN RATES FOR PEANUTS.

    Section 155(a) of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 
7271(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
following:
            ``(2) Loan rate.--The national average quota loan rate for 
        quota peanuts shall be as follows:
                    ``(A) $610 per ton for the 1999 crop.
                    ``(B) $550 per ton for the 2000 crop.
                    ``(C) $500 per ton for the 2001 crop.''.

SEC. 2. NONRECOURSE LOANS FOR 2002 AND SUBSEQUENT CROPS OF PEANUTS.

    Effective beginning with the 2002 crop of peanuts, section 155 of 
the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7271) is amended to 
read as follows:

``SEC. 155. PEANUT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Loans.--The Secretary shall make nonrecourse loans 
        available to producers of peanuts for each of the 2002 and 
        subsequent crops of peanuts.
            ``(2) Rate.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall offer to all peanut producers nonrecourse loans at a 
        level not less than 85 percent of the simple average price 
        received by producers for peanuts, as determined by the 
        Secretary, during the marketing year for each of the 
        immediately preceding 5 crops of peanuts, excluding the year in 
        which the average price was the highest and the year in which 
        the average price was the lowest during the period, but not 
        more than $350 per ton. The loans shall be administered at no 
        net cost to the Commodity Credit Corporation.
            ``(3) Inspection, handling, or storage.--The levels of 
        support determined under paragraph (2) shall not be reduced by 
        any deduction for inspection, handling, or storage.
            ``(4) Marketing of peanuts owned or controlled by the 
        commodity credit corporation.--Any peanuts owned or controlled 
        by the Commodity Credit Corporation may be made available for 
        domestic edible use, in accordance with regulations issued by 
        the Secretary, so long as doing so results in no net cost to 
        the Commodity Credit Corporation.
            ``(5) Location and other factors.--The Secretary may make 
        adjustments for the location of peanuts and such other factors 
        as are authorized by section 403.
            ``(6) Announcement.--The Secretary shall announce the level 
        of support for each crop of peanuts not later than the February 
        15 preceding the marketing year for which the level of support 
        is being determined.
    ``(b) Commodity Credit Corporation.--The Secretary shall carry out 
the program authorized by this section through the Commodity Credit 
Corporation.
    ``(c) Crops.--This section shall be effective for each of the 2002 
and subsequent crops of peanuts.''.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF PEANUT QUOTAS FOR 2002 AND SUBSEQUENT CROPS OF 
              PEANUTS.

    (a) In General.--Part VI of subtitle B of title III of the 
Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1357 et seq.) is 
repealed.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Definitions.--Section 301(b) of the Agricultural 
        Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1301(b)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ``corn, rice, 
                and peanuts'' and inserting ``corn and rice'';
                    (B) in paragraph (6), by striking subparagraph (C);
                    (C) in paragraph (10)(A)--
                            (i) by striking ``wheat, and peanuts'' and 
                        inserting ``and wheat''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``; 20 per centum in the 
                        case of wheat; and 15 per centum in the case of 
                        peanuts'' and inserting ``; and 20 percent in 
                        the case of wheat'';
                    (D) in paragraph (13)--
                            (i) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C); 
                        and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (G), by striking ``or 
                        peanuts'' both places it appears; and
                    (E) in paragraph (16)(A), by striking ``rice, and 
                peanuts'' and inserting ``and rice''.
            (2) Administrative provisions.--Section 361 of the 
        Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1361) is amended 
        by striking ``peanuts,''.
            (3) Adjustment of quotas.--Section 371 of the Agricultural 
        Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1371) is amended--
                    (A) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by 
                striking ``peanuts,''; and
                    (B) in the first sentence of subsection (b), by 
                striking ``peanuts''.
            (4) Reports and records.--Section 373 of the Agricultural 
        Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1373) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking the first 
                sentence and inserting the following new sentence: 
                ``This subsection shall apply to warehousemen, 
                processors, and common carriers of corn, wheat, cotton, 
                rice, or tobacco, and all ginners of cotton, all 
                persons engaged in the business of purchasing corn, 
                wheat, cotton, rice, or tobacco from producers, and all 
                persons engaged in the business of redrying, prizing, 
                or stemming tobacco for producers.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b), by striking ``peanuts,''.
            (5) Regulations.--Section 375(a) of the Agricultural 
        Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1375(a)) is amended by 
        striking ``peanuts,''.
            (6) Eminent domain.--The first sentence of section 378(c) 
        of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1378(c)) 
        is amended by striking ``cotton, tobacco, and peanuts,'' and 
        inserting ``cotton and tobacco,''.
    (c) Liability.--A provision of this section or an amendment made by 
this section shall not affect the liability of any person under any 
provision of law as in effect before the application of the provision 
of this section or the amendment in accordance with this section.
    (d) Application.--This section and the amendments made by this 
section shall apply beginning with the 2002 crop of peanuts.

SEC. 4. PURCHASE OF PEANUTS FOR NUTRITION PROGRAMS.

    Section 14 of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1762a) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Purchase of Peanuts for Nutrition Programs.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) Additional peanuts.--The term `additional 
                peanuts' has the meaning given the term in section 358-
                1(e) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 
                U.S.C. 1358-1(e)).
                    ``(B) Covered program.--The term `covered program' 
                means--
                            ``(i) a program established under this Act;
                            ``(ii) a program established under the 
                        Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et 
                        seq.);
                            ``(iii) the emergency food assistance 
                        program established under the Emergency Food 
                        Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.);
                            ``(iv) the food distribution program on 
                        Indian reservations established under section 
                        4(b) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 
                        2013(b));
                            ``(v) the commodity distribution program 
                        established under section 4 of the Agriculture 
                        and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (Public Law 
                        93-86; 7 U.S.C. 612c note);
                            ``(vi) the commodity supplemental food 
                        program established under section 5 of the 
                        Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 
                        (Public Law 93-86; 7 U.S.C. 612c note); and
                            ``(vii) a nutrition program carried out 
                        under part C of title III of the Older 
                        Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030e et 
                        seq.).
            ``(2) Purchases.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, in purchasing peanuts or peanut products to carry out a 
        covered program, the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) purchase the peanuts or peanut products at a 
                price that is not more than the prevailing world market 
                price for peanuts or peanut products produced in the 
                United States, as determined by the Secretary; and
                    ``(B) in the case of peanut purchases, purchase 
                only additional peanuts.
            ``(3) Domestic edible use.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, additional peanuts purchased by the Secretary 
        to carry out a covered program shall not be considered to be 
        peanuts for domestic edible use under the Agricultural 
        Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) or Agricultural 
        Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.).
            ``(4) Supply.--The Secretary shall take such actions as are 
        necessary to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that an 
        adequate supply of additional peanuts is available to carry out 
        covered programs.
            ``(5) Penalties.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, a person that produces additional peanuts that are sold to 
        the Secretary, or sells additional peanuts to the Secretary, 
        for a covered program shall not be subject to a penalty or 
        other sanction for the production or sale of the additional 
        peanuts.''.
                                 <all>