[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 478 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 478

 To require the Secretary of Agriculture to make emergency loans under 
    the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act and to provide 
emergency assistance to agricultural producers whose energy costs have 
                           escalated sharply.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2001

  Mr. Shows (for himself, Mr. Turner, Mr. Holden, and Mr. Thompson of 
 Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Agriculture to make emergency loans under 
    the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act and to provide 
emergency assistance to agricultural producers whose energy costs have 
                               escalated
                                sharply.

    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 ``Family Farm Emergency Energy 
Assistance Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) sudden and dramatic increases in energy prices have 
        caused an economic disaster for many agricultural producers; 
        and
            (2) such an economic disaster is as devastating to a 
        community as a natural disaster and should be regarded as such.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY LOANS FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS WHOSE ENERGY COSTS 
              HAVE ESCALATED SHARPLY.

    A qualified energy price increase found by the Secretary of 
Agriculture to have been experienced by an agricultural producer shall 
be considered a natural disaster for purposes of subtitle C of the 
Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, but only with respect to 
such a producer.

SEC. 4. IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS WHOSE 
              ENERGY COSTS HAVE ESCALATED SHARPLY.

    (a) Availability of Assistance.--As soon as practicable after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
provide financial assistance directly to agricultural producers on a 
farm that the Secretary finds had a qualified energy price increase to 
assist the producers in covering all or a portion of the higher 
operating costs incurred as a result of the increase in energy prices.
    (b) Emergency Designation.--The eligibility of an agricultural 
producer for assistance under this section does not require either the 
existence of a natural disaster in the county in which the farm is 
located or an emergency designation by the President or the Secretary.
    (c) Funding.--The Secretary shall use funds made available under 
the heading ``GENERAL PROVISIONS--THIS TITLE'' in title VIII of the 
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (as enacted by Public Law 
106-387; 114 Stat.1549A-49), to provide assistance to agricultural 
producers under this section.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Agricultural producer.--The term ``agricultural 
        producer'' includes crop producers, livestock and poultry 
        producers, and greenhouse operators.
            (2) Qualified energy price increase.--The term ``qualified 
        energy price increase'' means, with respect to agricultural 
        producers on a farm, that the average price paid for energy 
        supplies for the farm during the period that began on January 
        1, 2000, and ended on the date of the enactment of this Act is 
        at least 25 percent greater than the average price paid for 
        energy supplies for the farm during the period that began on 
        January 1, 1997, and ended on December 31, 1999.
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