[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 45 (Thursday, March 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3159-S3160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CONRAD:
  S. 1653. A bill to prohibit imports into the United States of grain 
and grain products from Canada, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.


                   the import prohibition act of 1996

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, on another matter, we learned yesterday 
that Canada is banning all imports of United States durum as a result 
of the karnal bunt fungus found in Arizona. Mr. President, this ban 
means that no durum may be exported to Canada. Durum is the wheat that 
makes pasta. So all the pasta lovers should understand most of the 
durum that makes pasta in this country is grown in North Dakota. 
Eighty-seven percent of the durum wheat that makes pasta is grown in 
North Dakota. And our Canadian friends from the north have now banned 
all imports of U.S. durum wheat. What does that mean? Well, it means a 
lot.
  It means that our durum is not going to be able to leave through the 
Great Lakes. That is where the grain that is grown in North Dakota and 
the rest of the Midwest is transferred to what we call lakers, ships 
that go on the lake to

[[Page S3160]]

transoceanic vessels. Those transfers are made in Canadian ports.
  This ban will mean that our grain cannot leave through those Canadian 
ports. That means our grain is going to have to go south through the 
gulf adding a lot of cost and expense. That means we are going to be 
less competitive against the Canadians.
  Mr. President, one might understand what the Canadians are doing here 
if in some way they were threatened. They themselves have acknowledged 
they are not threatened. They themselves have acknowledged that karnal 
bunt cannot survive in the cold of Canada. And there is no karnal bunt 
that has been found in the Midwest. The only place it was found was on 
isolated farms in some southwestern States.
  So the Canadians are engaged, I believe, in a deception. They are 
saying they are banning our exports of durum wheat through their ports 
to protect their producers. But by their own statements they know--and 
they have acknowledged--that they are not threatened.
  So what is really going on, Mr. President? I believe it is an attempt 
to secure a competitive advantage, and we should not allow it. We 
should fight back.
  Today, I am introducing two bills: One that will ban imports of 
Canadian durum until Canada drops its restriction on our grain. And the 
second bill would ban the imports of all cattle and beef from Canada 
given the fact that we have seen the mad cow disease develop in 
England. We know there have been shipments of cattle from England to 
Canada in the past.
  If they are going to threaten us because of karnal bunt found in 
Arizona, we can threaten them in the same way and shut off all imports 
from Canada of their beef and their cattle because of the mad cow 
syndrome in England when we know there have been shipments of beef from 
that country to Canada.
  It makes just as much sense to ban imports of cattle and beef from 
Canada where there is no known BSE as it does to ban imports of wheat 
from the upper midwest where there are no known outbreaks of karnal 
bunt.
  That is equivalent treatment. That is standing up for America. I hope 
that other of my colleagues will join me in supporting this legislation 
to send a clear message to our neighbors to the north that we are not 
going to accept their refusal to take our exports of durum through 
their markets.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1653

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

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Canadian Government has imposed a ban on the 
     importation of durum wheat from the United States because of 
     an outbreak of karnal bunt in Arizona.
       (2) The ban applies to all imports of durum wheat from the 
     United States, including wheat from States where no evidence 
     of karnal bunt has been found.
       (3) No karnal bunt has been found in any wheat produced in 
     Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, or in the 
     Great Lakes region.
       (4) The Canadian Government has stated that due to the cold 
     climate in Canada there is no risk of an outbreak of karnal 
     bunt in Canada.
       (5) Canada's ban on shipments of durum wheat through the 
     Great Lakes ports is unjustifiable and the ban places 
     unnecessary restrictions on shipments of other wheat through 
     the Great Lakes ports.

     SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST ENTRY OF CERTAIN CANADIAN GRAIN 
                   PRODUCTS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 15 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the President shall prohibit the 
     entry, or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption, of all 
     grain products (described in heading 1001 or 1101.00.00 of 
     the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States) which 
     are produced, grown, or manufactured in Canada.
       (b) Duration.--The prohibition imposed under subsection (a) 
     shall remain in full force and effect until the Secretary of 
     Agriculture and the United States Trade Representative--
       (1) determine that Canada has removed the prohibition on 
     imports described in subsection (c), and that durum wheat 
     products produced in the United States are permitted full and 
     fair access to the markets of such country; and
       (2) submit to the Congress the determination under 
     paragraph (1), together with the reasons underlying the 
     determination.
       (c) Prohibition Described.--The prohibition described in 
     this subsection is a prohibition on the importation of durum 
     wheat products produced in the United States where there is 
     not sufficient evidence that karnal bunt exists with respect 
     to such wheat.
                                 ______