[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 212 (Wednesday, December 8, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H7486-H7487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LIVESTOCK MANDATORY REPORTING EXTENSION

  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 5290) to extend authorization for livestock 
mandatory reporting.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5290

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

     SECTION 1. LIVESTOCK MANDATORY REPORTING EXTENSION.

       (a) In General.--Section 260 of the Agricultural Marketing 
     Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1636i) is amended by striking ``2020'' 
     and inserting ``2022''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 942 of the Livestock 
     Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (7 U.S.C. 1635 note; Public 
     Law 106-78) is amended by striking ``2020'' and inserting 
     ``2022''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr.   David Scott) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Thompson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 5290. Our agriculture industry is 
the best, the greatest in the world. And at the centerpiece of it is 
our livestock industry. And that is why we are gathered here.
  Livestock mandatory reporting is an important tool that provides the 
necessary transparency information to our livestock producers. This 
legislation extends livestock mandatory reporting until the end of 
September 2022, and it has bipartisan support with Democrats and 
Republicans working together on this very, very important bill.
  In talking to our great livestock producers, I have heard time and 
again how important it is to extend this mandatory reporting program; 
and that if we let it lapse it will cause significant problems for our 
farmers and ranchers.
  We are working together to make sure we get the job done the right 
way. All of our industry groups agree on this important bill, and that 
is the 1-year extension immediately of our livestock reporting.
  Our Agriculture Committee held a hearing earlier this year that 
extensively covered the importance of livestock reporting, mandatory 
reporting. In that hearing, we also heard from a variety of very 
distinguished industry representatives that, first and foremost, we 
need to extend this program.
  My committee's work on this issue--and while I am at it, I want to 
really give great thanks and gratitude to our agriculture staff. They 
have worked very diligently on this, and we are grateful for the hard 
work and dedication of the House Agriculture Committee staff.
  So, as I said, my work on this issue is indicative of how important 
the livestock industry is to our fellow committee members, both 
Democrats and Republicans, and to our Nation and the vital importance, 
as the leading force, in our Nation's economy. That is where our great 
agriculture system is today.
  I am aware of some ongoing discussions and pending legislation that 
seeks to reform the cattle industry, and we are going to deal with 
that. We are dealing with that over in the Senate Agriculture Committee 
and in our House committee.
  However, we should not let negotiations of those reforms that we are 
working with stand in the way of extending this vital program for 1 
year. In recent months, we have seen cattle markets begin to recover; 
prices for producers have moved up. This change in market dynamics is 
important to account for as we look to reach a consensus point on the 
framework of our reforms.
  This 1-year extension will help to settle the concerns in the 
livestock markets and provide certainty to our livestock industry, 
while also giving our Agriculture members in both the House and the 
Senate more time to come up with a consensus of the proposed reforms to 
cattle markets.
  We, in our House committee, are working with the Senate Agriculture 
Committee. I am personally working with Senator Grassley on the Senate 
committee so that we can have legislation going forward that has the 
vital input of both the House and the Senate, and we are giving it the 
time and

[[Page H7487]]

the interest that is needed, more time to have a consensus on the 
reforms that other Members of Congress have ideas on.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1215

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5290, to extend 
authority for the Department of Agriculture's Livestock Mandatory 
Reporting program.
  Under the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program, or LMR, meatpackers 
across the country are required to report to the USDA the details of 
transactions involving the purchase of cattle, swine, and sheep, as 
well as transactions for the corresponding sales of certain beef, pork, 
and lamb products.
  The USDA compiles and disseminates the information through hundreds 
of market reports each week, detailing price trends and supply and 
demand conditions. In turn, livestock industry participants, including 
farmers, ranchers, and feedlot operators, use the information to make 
informed marketing decisions.
  The livestock markets have experienced significant price volatility 
leading up to and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, cattle markets 
in particular. As I am sure many of you have heard from constituents at 
home, this uncertainty has led to cries from the countryside for 
significant market reforms and investigations into packer purchasing 
behavior.
  As industry and Congress continue to grapple with the best approach 
to improving market transparency while avoiding unintended 
consequences, and as we await the results of ongoing investigations, it 
is imperative that farmers and ranchers maintain access to the market 
information already provided by LMR.
  H.R. 5290 would do just that, providing much-needed certainty for the 
year ahead.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important 
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume for the purpose of closing.
  Mr. Speaker, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program is really a 
necessary and significant tool for the agriculture industry, especially 
based on the disruptions that we experienced most recently in 2020.
  I think American citizens are consciously aware of the difficulties 
and the potential difficulties with the food and agriculture supply 
chains and the difficulties that they experienced as they went to the 
grocery stores as they sought to feed their families, specifically 
during 2020 and in the wake of COVID-19. The Livestock Mandatory 
Reporting program is a tool that can help avoid that type of an issue.
  This reauthorization, as the chairman said, is important. It gives us 
time to have a great debate and to look at how we increase transparency 
within the livestock industry.
  I urge my colleagues to support this extension, this reauthorization, 
to give us time to make the necessary fixes and refinements in the 
future.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I will just close right briefly with a big thank you to 
my great staff, which is headed by the distinguished, smart, and 
dedicated Anne Simmons. I don't know what I would do without her. Of 
course, Ashley Smith, Prescott Martin, Daniel Feingold, Lesly McNitt, 
Kelcy Schaunaman, and also my chief of staff, Catherine Kuerbitz. We 
are a team, and I want to thank our staff.
  Also, I want to thank our ranking member. We work together in a 
bipartisan way. This is an example of how we Democrats and Republicans 
have got to continue to do. We are here today setting this fine example 
of strong bipartisanship.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr.   David Scott) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5290.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
are postponed.

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