[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 118 (Wednesday, September 20, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9852-S9853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      REAUTHORIZING THE LIVESTOCK MANDATORY REPORTING ACT OF 1999

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Agriculture Committee be discharged and the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of H.R. 3408.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3408) to reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory 
     Reporting Act of 1999 and to amend the swine reporting 
     provisions of that Act.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act was 
enacted by Congress in 1999 to level the playing field for independent 
producers. This Act is important because it improves market 
transparency by requiring packers, processors, and importers to provide 
critical price, contracting, supply and demand information to USDA, 
which in turn creates price reports for livestock producers.
  Since the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program was implemented by 
USDA, I have heard repeated concerns from producers about the accuracy 
and overall transparency of the program. Since this law was due to 
sunset, to get as many facts as possible for purposes of reauthorizing 
this important law, Senator Grassley and I requested an audit by the 
Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate the accuracy of the 
program. This GAO audit found numerous instances of limited 
transparency and lengthy lag times by USDA in actions to correct 
problems when packers failed to report or provide accurate information, 
and instances where USDA was excluding packer data in price reports but 
not making information about the exclusions available to the public.
  Thus far, USDA has provided very little information to Congress 
regarding USDA's implementation of the six recommendations made by GAO. 
In fact, USDA has known of many of the problems described by GAO since 
2001, but failed to act. That is why there needs to be strong oversight 
by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry to 
ensure this program is functioning correctly and that GAO's 
recommendations are fully implemented.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I also call on Chairman Chambliss to help Senator 
Harkin and me get much-needed answers to what USDA has done to 
implement the GAO recommendations. There has been a lack of 
believability regarding the information generated by the Livestock 
Mandatory Reporting program, many producers across Iowa and many parts 
of the Nation feel strongly that the information would be more valuable 
if the program had more credibility through improved transparency.
  Mr. HARKIN. I do believe that some of the GAO recommendations would 
be better implemented if codified in law. Senator Grassley and I 
provided numerous farm and livestock groups and the packing industry 
draft legislation that would address the GAO recommendations and other 
outstanding producer concerns. This process has been difficult and has 
taken considerable time given the complexity of issues and diversity of 
the groups. Since a full consensus was not reached among these parties, 
the legislative changes will not be approved this year. Senator 
Grassley and I ask that Chairman Chambliss be willing to help us 
achieve these needed legislative changes in the next Congress.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Last year, Senator Harkin and I introduced legislation, 
that passed the Senate by unanimous consent, that would extend the 
Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act for one-year to allow additional time 
to review the GAO recommendations and develop needed modifications to 
the law to improve the functioning and operation of the program. 
Unfortunately, the House refused to take up the bill and the law 
expired. I conditioned my support of any multi-year extension or 
revision of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program on carrying out 
the GAO study results. Now we are at a crucial point with the 
legislative session coming to a close. Senator Harkin and I realize 
that we are facing strong opposition from the packing industry on 
moving a Senate version that includes the GAO recommendations. I ask 
for assurances from Chairman Chambliss that he will work with Senator 
Harkin and me to move our proposed legislative changes forward.

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I agree with Senators Harkin and 
Grassley about the importance of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act 
(LMRA) to producers. For over a year, I have worked with the Senators 
from Iowa in their attempt to craft consensus language to which all 
interested parties could agree. I agreed to wait for a report from the 
Government Accountability Office, GAO, even though there was concern 
that the report would be released after the expiration of this 
important mandatory program. Since that time, packers have continued to 
consistently report on a voluntary basis limiting potential disruptions 
to the information provided by LMRA to the marketplace. While I 
understand my colleague's interest in implementing the recommendations 
from GAO, I am also concerned that all stakeholders--producers and 
packers--have comfort and assurance in this program and that any 
changes made to the program will minimize potential litigation and the 
false reporting of data.
  I intend to work with Senators Harkin and Grassley to ensure that 
there is another opportunity to find consensus among interested parties 
in implementing further changes to the program. Next year provides an 
excellent opportunity to debate this and other issues of importance to 
the livestock industry during the farm bill reauthorization process. In 
addition, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry 
will conduct a hearing in the spring of 2007 that will focus on 
livestock issues which will allow us to explore any needed changes to 
the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act.
  Although the Senators from Iowa and I have worked diligently with 
livestock groups and the packing industry to address the concerns of 
all interested parties, we were not able to reach an agreement. Given 
the limited time before adjournment, I ask my colleagues to support 
H.R. 3408, which has passed the House, and will reinstate the mandatory 
provisions of this much needed program. As I said previously, I will 
continue to work with the Senators from Iowa next year on the farm bill 
to arrive at consensus legislation that all stakeholders can support.
  Finally, I would like to commend all of the industry groups that have 
worked on this issue for over a year. The countless hours of 
negotiations, meetings, and debate are healthy and represent the 
American legislative process at its best. The complexity of this issue 
has unfortunately made it impossible to accommodate all the changes 
requested by the Senators from Iowa, but I commend them for recognizing 
the importance of this program for not only producers in Iowa, but 
producers across this great Nation. H.R. 3408 will provide price 
discovery and transparency to the marketplace, allowing all producers 
to confidently receive fair prices for their livestock.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank Chairman Chambliss for his patience throughout

[[Page S9853]]

this process and willingness and commitment to help Senator Grassley 
and me to get GAO's recommendations implemented. His commitment to help 
us pursue our legislative proposals next year is sincerely appreciated.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 
be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed 
in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 3408) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.

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