[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
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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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