[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 22978-22979]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            AMENDING PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES ACT

  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4965) to amend the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 
1930, to extend the time period during which persons may file a 
complaint alleging the preparation of false inspection certificates at 
Hunts Point Terminal Market, Bronx, New York.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4965

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

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF TIME PERIOD FOR FILING CERTAIN 
                   COMPLAINTS UNDER PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL 
                   COMMODITIES ACT, 1930.

       Section 6(a)(1) of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities 
     Act, 1930 (7 U.S.C. 499f(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the 
     end the following: ``Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, 
     a person that desires to file a complaint under this section 
     involving the allegation of false inspection certificates 
     prepared by graders of the Department of Agriculture at Hunts 
     Point Terminal Market, Bronx, New York, prior to October 27, 
     1999, may file the complaint until January 1, 2001.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Calvert) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Peterson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert).
  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the bill, H.R. 4965, a bill 
to extend the time period to file a complaint arising from the incident 
at the Hunts Point Terminal Market.
  I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Condit) for introducing 
this legislation. I also would like to thank the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Pombo), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Livestock 
and Horticulture for holding a hearing on the Hunts Point matter on 
July 27. I thank my colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) 
for his assistance in bringing this bill to the floor.
  On October 27, 1999, eight USDA produce inspectors and individuals 
from 13 wholesale firms were arrested at the Hunts Point Terminal 
Market and charged with bribery. These arrests were the result of a 3-
year investigation by the USDA's Office of Inspector General. All 
total, Federal prosecutors were able to obtain convictions for nine 
USDA inspectors involved in this illegal activity, in addition to the 
charges filed against 14 wholesale firms.
  The AMS inspectors were charged with accepting cash bribes in 
exchange for reducing the grade of the produce they inspected, which 
then allowed the wholesale company to purchase produce more cheaply at 
the expense of the farmer.
  The Perishable Agriculture Commodities Act, PACA, enacted in 1930, 
governs the fair trade of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. PACA 
guidelines provide a mechanism to resolve commercial disputes that 
arise in the produce trade. PACA also establishes a code of business 
practices and enables USDA to penalize violations of these practices.
  Mr. Speaker, all who believe they suffered from the financial damages 
as a result of the fraudulent inspection at the Hunts Point Market may 
seek to recover these damages by filing a PACA complaint. However, PACA 
guidelines require all claims be filed within 9 months of the incident. 
In this case, any party seeking damages from the Hunts Point incident 
would have had to file a claim by July 27, 2000.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that the earliest any producer 
received a copy of the fraudulent inspection certificates was March 21 
and some did not receive theirs until June 23. These certificates, 
along with other records, are necessary to establish the amount of 
damages. As my colleagues can see, many did not have adequate time to 
assemble the required documentation to file a claim by the deadline. 
H.R. 4965

[[Page 22979]]

extends the deadline for filing the PACA claim resulting from the Hunts 
Point incident to January 1, 2001.
  This will provide farmers and others with a claim to gather the 
information they need to present a claim for compensation resulting 
from illegal inspection activities.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4965, and I think the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert) has done a good job of laying 
out the situation. This bill is basically technical in nature.
  Mr. Speaker, I am the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Livestock 
and Horticulture and I sat through the hearings regarding this Hunts 
Point situation and it is and was quite a mess, to say the least. What 
we are trying to accomplish here is merely a technical change to give 
these folks enough time so they can file these claims, as was indicated 
by the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert).
  Under the way the process works, they only had until July 27, some of 
them did not get notified until June, so this just merely extends it to 
January 1, 2001, which is appropriate. Basically, this is a technical 
bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Peterson) for his assistance, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4965.
  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.

                          ____________________