[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23361]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-361. A Resolution adopted by the House of the General 
     Assembly of the State of North Carolina relative to a Tobacco 
     Quota Buyout Program; to the Committee on Agriculture, 
     Nutrition, and Forestry.

                         House Resolution 1786

       Whereas, the system of growing and marketing burley and 
     flue-cured tobacco currently in place in the United States 
     faces many challenges and changes due to contracting, 
     lawsuits, governmental regulation, and foreign competition; 
     and
       Whereas, quota owners, tobacco growers, and the tobacco 
     industry agree that a transition from the current system is 
     needed to ensure continued tobacco production; and
       Whereas, a plan of transition that is fair and equitable to 
     all quota owners and tobacco growers is needed to provide 
     stability, uniformity, and certainty for quota owners, 
     growers, and the tobacco industry; and
       Whereas, protecting family farmers and minority farmers and 
     preserving the production of tobacco for economic viability 
     in rural communities is an important goal of the State; and
       Whereas, a buyout of the quota owners and tobacco growers 
     would provide a significant and needed economic stimulus over 
     a period of time in the State of North Carolina during a time 
     of economic distress: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives:
       Section 1. The House of Representatives urges the Congress 
     of the United States and the President to support and enact 
     legislation that would establish a fair and equitable 
     transition program for quota owners and tobacco growers and 
     the tobacco industry that would buy out quota owners and 
     tobacco growers.
       Section 2. The Principal Clerk shall transmit copies of 
     this resolution to the President and Vice President of the 
     United States, to the Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to 
     each Senator and Representative from North Carolina in the 
     Congress of the United States.
       Section 3. This resolution is effective upon adoption.

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