Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - January 16, 2007)
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By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. ENZI, and Mr. HARKIN):
S. 305. A bill to amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to make it unlawful for a packer to own, feed, or control livestock intended for slaughter; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, Congress will be working on a rewrite of the current farm bill during the 110th Congress and I will be looking for ways to improve the economic condition of America's farmers. However, one of the many shortcomings of the 2002 farm bill is that it failed to protect family farmers and independent livestock producers from vertical integration in the livestock industry. This is one reason why I voted against the final conference report.
Over the years, family farmers from across Iowa have contacted me to express their fears about the threat they feel from concentration in the livestock industry. They fear that if the trend toward increased concentration continues, they may be unable to compete effectively and will not be able to get a fair price for their livestock in the marketplace.
The bill I am introducing would prevent meat packers from assuming complete control of the meat supply by preventing packers from owning livestock.
This bill would make it unlawful for a packer to own or feed livestock intended for slaughter. Single pack entities and packs too small to participate in the Mandatory Price Reporting program would be excluded from the limitation. In addition, farmer cooperatives in which the members own, feed, or control the livestock themselves would be exempt under this new bill.
This is a similar version I successfully offered on the floor during the debate on the 2002 farm bill.
It's important for our colleagues to remember that family farmers ultimately derive their income from the agricultural marketplace, not the farm bill. Family farmers have unfortunately been in a position of weakness in selling their product to large processors and in buying their inputs from large suppliers.
Today, the position of the family farmer has become weaker as consolidation in agribusiness has reached all time highs. Farmers have fewer buyers and suppliers than ever before. The result is an increasing loss of family farms and the smallest farm share of the consumer dollar in history.
One hundred years ago, this Nation reacted appropriately to citizen concerns about large, powerful companies by establishing rules constraining such businesses when they achieved a level of market power that harmed, or risked harming, the public interest, trade and commerce. The United States Congress enacted the first competition laws in the world to make commerce more free and fair. These competition laws include the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, Federal Trade Commission Act and Packers & Stockyards Act.
Since that time, many countries in the world have followed this U.S. example to constrain undue market power in their domestic economies.
Unfortunately, competition policy has been severely weakened in this country, especially in agriculture, due to Federal case law, underfunded enforcement, and unfounded reliance on efficiency claims. The result has been a significant degradation of the domestic agricultural market infrastructure. The current situation reflects a tremendous mis-allocation of resources across the food chain. Congress must strengthen competition policy within the farm sector to reclaim a properly operating marketplace.
While this legislation does not accomplish all that we need to do in this area, it's an important first step toward remedying the biggest problem facing farmers today, the problem of concentration.
Thank you Mr. President; I ask unanimous consent the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the text was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 305
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