[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23736]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            AMENDING PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES ACT

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                               speech of

                          HON. GARY A. CONDIT

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 17, 2000

  Mr. CONDIT. Mr. Speaker, Thank you, Speaker Hastert and Mr. Gephardt 
for scheduling this bill on today's suspension calendar and bringing 
this important matter to the floor.
  The Hunt's Point incident represents a serious threat to the entire 
produce industry. The acceptance of bribes by USDA inspectors erodes 
public trust in an inspection system meant to provide security and 
consistency to the produce industry as well as consumers. This 
legislation is the fruit of a continuous and effective dialog between 
the USDA and Congress to address the serious problems raised by this 
scandal.
  On October 27, 1999, eight USDA fruit and vegetable inspectors were 
convicted of accepting bribes for downgrading loads of produce so that 
receivers could negotiate lower prices with shippers. Inspection 
certificates originally issued by USDA were held by the U.S. Attorney 
General and USDA OIG as key evidence in the criminal investigation. 
These same certificates are also necessary to establishing a PACA 
claim. As a result of the investigation, some growers and shippers did 
not recover those vital inspection certificates until as recently as 
June 23. Since the deadline for filing claims was July 27, this did not 
allow for sufficient time to review and process those claims.
  For these reasons, I introduce along with Chairman Pombo this 
legislation to extend the filing deadline for PACA claims related to 
Hunt's Point to January 1, 2001.
  This legislation will enable those growers and shippers to establish 
their losses, file a claim and recover.

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