[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 8 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 8

Expressing the sense of Congress that assistance should be provided to 
pork producers to alleviate economic conditions faced by the producers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 1999

   Mr. Grassley (for himself and Mr. Kerrey) submitted the following 
     concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that assistance should be provided to 
pork producers to alleviate economic conditions faced by the producers.

Whereas the price for domestic live hogs has declined by 72 percent since July 
        1997;
Whereas on December 12, 1998, the price of domestic live hogs decreased to below 
        $10 per hundredweight for the first time since 1955;
Whereas pork producers are losing between $55 and $70 on each hog the producers 
        sell;
Whereas, adjusted for inflation, prices paid to pork producers for live hogs 
        have not been this low since the Great Depression;
Whereas based on estimates made by the Secretary of Agriculture, pork producers 
        are losing approximately $144,000,000 in equity per week and lost more 
        than $2,500,000,000 in equity during 1998;
Whereas low prices for hogs are threatening the livelihood of tens of thousands 
        of farm families and the very existence of suppliers, equipment dealers, 
        and main street businesses in rural communities across the United 
        States;
Whereas the domestic demand for pork increased by up to 7.1 percent during 1998 
        despite average retail prices for pork remaining roughly the same;
Whereas despite the loss of markets in Asia and Russia, pork exports from the 
        United States during 1998 increased by 28 percent;
Whereas a primary cause of these increased pork exports is increased pork supply 
        intensified by an increase of pork imports from Canada and a reduction 
        in domestic slaughter capacity for hogs;
Whereas the slaughter plant bottleneck for hogs has been exacerbated by 
        approximately 100,000 Canadian hogs being trucked to the United States 
        for slaughter each week; and
Whereas a 37 percent increase in the number of Canadian hogs being exported to 
        the United States for slaughter has caused the number of live hogs to 
        exceed the 383,000 daily slaughter capacity of United States plants, 
        depriving domestic pork producers of all leverage in bargaining for a 
        fair price: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),

SECTION 1. NEED FOR ASSISTANCE FOR PORK PRODUCERS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the President and the Secretary of Agriculture are 
        commended on their efforts to assist pork producers in 
        alleviating economic conditions faced by the producers; and
            (2) additional assistance needs to be provided to pork 
        producers to alleviate the economic conditions.

SEC. 2. FORMS OF ASSISTANCE FOR PORK PRODUCERS.

    To alleviate the economic conditions that are faced by pork 
producers, it is the sense of Congress that the President should--
            (1) immediately request an emergency supplemental 
        appropriation to provide funds for providing--
                    (A) guarantees of farm ownership loans under 
                subtitle A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
                Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.), and operating 
                loans under subtitle B of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1941 et 
                seq.), made to pork producers; and
                    (B) assistance to pork producers under the interest 
                rate reduction program established under section 351 of 
                the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
                U.S.C. 1999) and other provisions of that Act that 
                authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to reduce or 
                subsidize the interest rate paid by pork producers;
            (2) prepare and submit to Congress a report that analyzes 
        the feasibility and cost of implementing, not later than 30 
        days after enactment, a program to provide disaster assistance 
        to pork producers, including assistance in the form of--
                    (A) economic assistance;
                    (B) an expanded loan and debt restructuring 
                program; and
                    (C) compensation for lost markets as a result of 
                increased pork imports;
            (3) continue to facilitate the donation and distribution of 
        pork and pork products for humanitarian purposes;
            (4) work with the Canadian Government to address the many 
        problems that contribute to the increased export of pork and 
        pork products into the United States;
            (5) take appropriate steps to encourage increased use and 
        expansion of the domestic slaughter capacity for hogs;
            (6) direct the Secretary of Agriculture, the Attorney 
        General, and the Secretary of Commerce to investigate 
        noncompetitive and antitrust practices in the pork industry;
            (7) direct the Secretary of Agriculture to improve price 
        reporting in the domestic livestock industry to ensure fair, 
        open, and competitive markets; and
            (8) immediately implement the loan guarantee paperwork 
        reduction regulation of the Secretary of Agriculture that will 
        allow pork producers and lenders to use existing lender 
        documents, rather than creating new documents, when applying 
        for loan guarantees under the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
        Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.).
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