[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 124 (Tuesday, October 5, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H8131-H8133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT AMENDMENT
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
[[Page H8132]]
bill (H.R. 2984) to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act to remove the
requirement that processors be members of an agency administering a
marketing order applicable to pears.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2984
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PEAR MARKETING ORDERS.
Section 8c(7)(C) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7
U.S.C. 608c(7)(C)), reenacted with amendments by the
Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, is amended in
the last sentence--
(1) by striking ``or pears''; and
(2) by striking ``: Provided,'' and all that follows
through ``be equal''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself of such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2984, introduced by the
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden). This legislation removes the
requirement that processors be members of an agency administering a
marketing order applicable to pears.
The pear industry has been working with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to consolidate the various pear marketing orders. Current
statute requires that any marketing order that assesses processing
pears must have equal representation from producers and processors on
its governing board. This statute is a barrier to the industry's
consolidation plan and would unjustly grant processors, who do not pay
in the Federal marketing orders, a role in directing activities funded
with producer dollars.
H.R. 2984 would allow producers alone to dictate how their funds will
be used in pear promotion activities. The pear industry, from producers
to processors, is united in their support of this bill.
I want to applaud its gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) for his work
in bringing forth commonsense legislation that is wholeheartedly
supported by the pear industry. I appreciate his leadership on behalf
of his constituents. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2984.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2984. Current statute requires
any marketing order that assesses processing pears must have equal
representation from producers and processors on its governing board.
This statute is a barrier to the industry's consolidation plan and
would unjustly grant processors, who do not pay into Federal marketing
orders, a role in directing activities funded with producer dollars.
The Pacific Northwest pear industry is seeking to consolidate
promotional activity under a single Federal marketing order for fresh
pears and processing pears that will be funded, operated and managed by
pear producers.
H.R. 2984 would remove the existing processor membership requirement,
allowing the industry to establish a single producer-funded-and-
operated Federal marketing order. This change will pave the way for
consolidation and allow producers alone to determine how their funds
will be used in pear promotion activities.
The pear industry is unified in support of the proposed changes made
in H.R. 2984, and I encourage members to support this measure.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from North
Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy) be allowed to manage the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as
he may consume to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the author of
the legislation.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member
of the committee and the committee chairman and subcommittee chairman
for their work on this legislation. I want to thank the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Hastings), the gentleman from Washington (Mr.
Nethercutt) and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen) for joining
me as cosponsors of this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I represent pear country in the northwest, at least in
the State of Oregon. In the great Hood River Valley and down in the
Jackson Road Valley, Jackson County and elsewhere across my district,
they grow tremendous, tasty pears, many of which find their way into
special packages from Harry and David, among other companies.
Our pear growers are trying to be innovative in terms of how they
market their products. Many individual growers now are growing organic
fruit, and many are taking it upon themselves to market their own
products to the public, as opposed to necessarily going through big
processors, although, obviously, the bulk of the fruit still is dealt
with that way. But they are looking for new ways to bring value added
to their products.
The industry, therefore, is seeking to consolidate their promotional
activity under a single Federal marketing order, and the current
statute requires that any marketing order that assesses processing
pears must have equal representation from producers and processors on
its governing board, and yet the processors pay nothing into this
process.
So, as a result, they have come to us, the processors and the
growers, and said, ``You know, why don't you change this law and let us
go ahead and streamline how we operate.''
So this legislation does that. It removes the existing processor
membership requirement, and the processors all support that. The change
will pave the way for consolidation and allow producers alone to
dictate how their funds will be used in pear promotional activities.
The pear industry is united behind this. Each of the Pacific
Northwest pear processors have expressed support for the changes. The
Oregon, Washington and California State marketing commissions support
it. Both Federal marketing orders are in support. The Pacific Northwest
Canned Pear Service, the nonprofit voluntary marketing board of the
Northwest canned pear industry, supports it. And the Washington-Oregon
Canning Pear Association, the nonprofit bargaining association, all
support H.R. 2984.
So, Mr. Speaker, I encourage the approval of this legislation. I look
forward to having this written into law and having our pear industry be
able to be more competitive in its promotional activities.
Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to assume the responsibility of floor
management on this and subsequent pieces of legislation for the ranking
member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm). He, at this moment, is
appearing before the House Committee on Rules in support of an
amendment to be considered tomorrow advancing disaster relief for
America's farmers.
The amendment of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), which I
have cosponsored and strongly support, would represent a commitment by
this House similar to that made by the Senate, a roughly $3 billion
commitment in support of farmers who have had disastrous results this
growing season in light of weather circumstances not anticipated and
not normal and truly of a disastrous magnitude.
We stand prepared and will help those victims of the Florida
hurricanes. We also have to recognize that, when it comes to production
of agriculture, there are a lot of other types of disasters that have
wreaked havoc right across this country, and that is the reason that
the legislation that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) is moving
forward, supported by both Republican and Democratic Members of this
body representing agriculture production areas, is so critically
important.
I certainly hope that the ranking member is successful in his efforts
to have an amendment made in order that will allow consideration of the
disaster relief. We believe and we believe strongly that the disaster
relief that passed the Senate is the disaster relief that our farmers
need and deserve. We believe anything short of that would be an
abdication by this House in meeting the needs of farmers. That is why
we feel so strongly about it that the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Stenholm) actually left the floor management to go
[[Page H8133]]
to rules and make the case for this legislation.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to
support passage of this legislation to remove the Agricultural
Adjustment Act requirement that processors be members of an agency
administering a marketing order on pears.
I want to thank my friend and colleague from Oregon, Mr. Walden, for
his hard work on behalf of the NW pear industry.
My Congressional district produces 44 percent of the nation's pears,
and Washington State is the top pear producing state in the nation. The
pear growers I represent and their fellow pear growers throughout the
Pacific Northwest are working hard to meet the challenges of foreign
competition and changing consumer tastes, and industry marketing
organizations are a vital part of this effort. However, Northwest pear
growers are operating under an unnecessarily complicated arrangement
involving two federal marketing orders and two state commodity
commissions. The industry would like to streamline its grade standards
and marketing efforts by moving to a single federal marketing order.
Moving from four organizations doing the same job to one seems like
common sense to me, but there is a problem. Current federal statute
requires that any marketing order that covers pears for processing must
have equal representation from producers and processors on its
governing board. Keep in mind that it is producers, not processors,
that pay the assessments and are subject to the marketing orders'
quality standards. For this reason a requirement that processors have
equal representation is unreasonable and is a barrier to the industry's
plan to consolidate its organizations.
This legislation will simply remove the requirement that the number
of producer and processor representatives be equal. If passed, our bill
would allow the Northwest pear industry to establish a single federal
marketing order that does not give disproportionate influence to one
segment of the industry.
This legislation is supported by the Pacific Northwest pear industry,
and the processors themselves do not oppose the removal of this
provision.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time on the
legislation before us, and, on behalf of the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Stenholm), I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2984.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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