[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19827]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          AMENDMENT TO THE AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1938

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1543 introduced 
earlier today by Senator McConnell for himself and others.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1543) to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act 
     of 1938 to release and protect the release of tobacco 
     production and marketing information.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. GORTON. 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 (S. 1543) was considered read the third time and passed, as 
follows:

                                S. 1543

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

     SECTION 1. TOBACCO PRODUCTION AND MARKETING INFORMATION.

       Part I of subtitle B of title III of the Agricultural 
     Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1311 et seq.) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 320D. TOBACCO PRODUCTION AND MARKETING INFORMATION.

       ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the Secretary may, subject to subsection (b), release 
     marketing information submitted by persons relating to the 
     production and marketing of tobacco to State trusts or 
     similar organizations engaged in the distribution of national 
     trust funds to tobacco producers and other persons with 
     interests associated with the production of tobacco, as 
     determined by the Secretary.
       ``(b) Limitations.--
       ``(1) In general.--Information may be released under 
     subsection (a) only to the extent that--
       ``(A) the release is in the interest of tobacco producers, 
     as determined by the Secretary; and
       ``(B) the information is released to a State trust or other 
     organization that is created to, or charged with, 
     distributing funds to tobacco producers or other parties with 
     an interest in tobacco production or tobacco farms under a 
     national or State trust or settlement.
       ``(2) Exemption from release.--The Secretary shall, to the 
     maximum extent practicable, in advance of making a release of 
     information under subsection (a), allow, by announcement, a 
     period of at least 15 days for persons whose consent would 
     otherwise be required by law to effectuate the release, to 
     elect to be exempt from the release.
       ``(c) Assistance.--
       ``(1) In general.--In making a release under subsection 
     (a), the Secretary may provide such other assistance with 
     respect to information released under subsection (a) as will 
     facilitate the interest of producers in receiving the funds 
     that are the subject of a trust described in subsection (a).
       ``(2) Funds.--The Secretary shall use amounts made 
     available for salaries and expenses of the Department to 
     carry out paragraph (1).
       ``(d) Records.--
       ``(1) In general.--A person that obtains information 
     described in subsection (a) shall maintain records that are 
     consistent with the purposes of the release and shall not use 
     the records for any purpose not authorized under this 
     section.
       ``(2) Penalty.--A person that knowingly violates this 
     subsection shall be fined not more than $10,000, imprisoned 
     not more than 1 year, or both.
       ``(e) Application.--This section shall not apply to--
       ``(1) records submitted by cigarette manufacturers with 
     respect to the production of cigarettes;
       ``(2) records that were submitted as expected purchase 
     intentions in connection with the establishment of national 
     tobacco quotas; or
       ``(3) records that aggregate the purchases of particular 
     buyers.''.

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