[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23854-23855]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        AMENDING LIVESTOCK MANDATORY PRICE REPORTING ACT OF 1999

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 2965) to amend the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting 
Act of 1999 to modify the termination date for mandatory price 
reporting.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 2965

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

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION.

       Section 942 of the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act 
     of 1999 (7 U.S.C. 1635 note; Public Law 106-78) is amended by 
     striking ``terminate'' and all that follows and inserting 
     ``terminate on September 30, 2005.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, which extends an 
important program until September 30, 2005.
  As many of my colleagues know, authorization for the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture's Mandatory Price Reporting Program, which was passed in 
the 1999 agriculture appropriation, expired on October 23. This program 
requires USDA to operate a mandatory price reporting system for beef, 
pork and lamb, which provides useful information for everyone engaged 
in the buying and selling of these products.
  In the absence of authority to enforce mandatory reporting, the USDA 
has contacted the companies to encourage them to continue reporting 
data

[[Page 23855]]

during the gap in program authorization. It is my understanding that 
everyone has been cooperating. This is because they recognize the 
important role this data plays in price discovery and in the operation 
of marketing agreements.
  There is also a clear agreement that the current program should be 
extended for an additional year to provide livestock producers, the 
packer community and other interested parties additional time to 
identify and agree upon these technical improvements to the law.
  The administration has recently written to the leadership of the 
House and Senate in support of this simple 1-year extension. In order 
to extend mandatory price reporting in a timely manner, we need to act 
today.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1845

  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of S. 2965, a bill to amend the Livestock 
Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 1999 in order to modify the 
termination date for mandatory price reporting.
  The current authority for the USDA Livestock Mandatory Price 
Reporting expired on October 23 of this year. It is important to the 
U.S. livestock markets that we maintain a dependable flow of 
information to producers to help them price their products in the 
marketplace. The bill before us today provides for a simple 1-year 
reauthorization of the existing program, and I am not aware of any 
serious opposition to this bill.
  I do regret that we have not taken the time to consider a more 
careful revision of the statute prior to this point. We should have 
taken up this issue much earlier during the 108th Congress and spent 
the time to consider corrections to the deficiencies various groups 
have noted in the program as it currently exists. But since that has 
not been done, this 1-year extension seems like the best alternative 
available to maintain a stable flow of information to our producers.
  It is my hope that, during this 1-year extension, the Committee on 
Agriculture of this House will hold hearings on this topic and consider 
ways it might improve the USDA price reporting system. In the meantime, 
however, a simple extension seems to be the best way to serve the 
market information needs for our farmers and ranchers.
  I encourage all Members to support passage of this Senate bill.
  Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to support passage of S. 2965, 
a bill to extend for one year the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting 
Act of 1999. As the author of the original legislation, I am pleased to 
see that this important program will continue for one additional year. 
It is my hope that during that time the program will be improved and, 
if it is proven cost effective, made permanent.
  Four major packers slaughter 80 percent of fed cattle and process 
about 85 percent of boxed beef. According to producer organizations, 
because of the high level of concentration, it is very important to 
maintain a level playing field for all producers.
  Mandatory price reporting addresses non-contract livestock producers 
concerns that the increasing use of contracts prevents complete 
transparency in livestock prices that, in the past, would've been made 
public at auction. Additionally, independent livestock producers fear 
that the increasing use of contracts means that there is less of a 
market for their product, and the price they will receive will remain 
low through possible packer collusion. Mandatory price reporting 
provides market transparency, thus ensuring that our producers get the 
best prices for their livestock.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very supportive of this one-year extension. It will 
give Congress additional time to determine the efficacy of the program, 
whether the cost of the program outweighs the benefit, and verify price 
data problems that arose with USDA's implementation of the program have 
since been fixed.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to adopt this 
important legislation to extend this program for a year.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Renzi). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 2965.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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