HR 2743 IH

To improve the financial situation of America's farmers and ranchers.

To improve the financial situation of America's farmers and ranchers.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Farm and Ranch Emergency Assistance Act of 1999'.

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Emergency requirement.

TITLE I--MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR CONTRACT COMMODITIES

Sec. 101. Market loss assistance for contract commodities

TITLE II--MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR SOYBEANS AND OTHER OILSEEDS

Sec. 201. Market loss assistance for soybeans and other oilseeds.

TITLE III--REMOVAL OF TRADE SANCTIONS

Sec. 301. Comptroller General report.

Sec. 302. Prohibition on unilateral agricultural or medical sanctions.

Sec. 303. Annual reports by Secretary of Agriculture.

Sec. 304. Actions by Department of Agriculture.

Sec. 305. Definition.

TITLE IV--TEMPORARY REMOVAL OF LIMIT ON LOAN DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS AND MARKETING LOAN GAINS

Sec. 401. Temporary removal of limit on authorized amount of marketing loan gains and loan deficiency payments.

TITLE V--UPLAND COTTON PRICE COMPETITIVENESS

Sec. 501. Upland cotton price competitiveness.

TITLE VI--MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR LIVESTOCK AND DAIRY PRODUCERS

Sec. 601. Assistance to livestock and dairy producers.

TITLE VII--EMERGENCY CONCESSIONAL SALES AND DONATIONS

Sec. 701. Emergency concessional sales and donations.

TITLE VIII--CONSERVATION RESERVE

Sec. 801. Sense of Congress regarding full enrollment of land in the conservation reserve.

TITLE IX--EARLY AVAILABILITY OF AMTA PAYMENTS

Sec. 901. Authority for advance payment in full of remaining payments under production flexibility contracts.

TITLE X--CROP INSURANCE

Sec. 1001. Crop insurance premium discount for 2000 crop year.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT.

Notwithstanding the last sentence of section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, amounts made available by this Act are designated by the Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985: Provided, That such amounts shall be available only to the extent that an official budget request that includes designation of the entire amount of the request as an emergency requirement as defined in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, is transmitted by the President to Congress.

SEC. 101. MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR CONTRACT COMMODITIES

(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Agriculture shall use not more than $5,544,453,000 for assistance to owners and producers on a farm who are eligible for final payments for fiscal year 1999 under a production flexibility contract for the farm under the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) to partially compensate the owners and producers for the loss of markets for the 1999 crop of a commodity.

(b) AMOUNT- The amount of assistance made available to owners and producers on a farm under this section shall be proportional to the amount of the contract payment received by the owners and producers for fiscal year 1999 under a production flexibility contract for the farm under the Agricultural Market Transition Act.

(c) TIME FOR PAYMENT- The assistance made available under this section for an eligible owner or producer shall be made as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act.

(d) USE OF COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION- Subject to subsection (e), the Secretary shall use the funds, facilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out this section.

SEC. 201. MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR SOYBEANS AND OTHER OILSEEDS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Agriculture shall use not less than $475,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make payments to producers of the 1999 crop of oilseeds that are eligible to obtain a marketing assistance loan under section 131 of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7231).

(b) COMPUTATION- A payment to producers on a farm under this section shall be computed by multiplying--

(1) a payment rate determined by the Secretary; by

(2) the quantity of oilseeds that the producers on the farm are eligible to place under loan under section 131 of that Act.

(c) LIMITATION- Payments made under this section shall be considered to be contract payments for the purposes of section 1001(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308(1)).

SEC. 301. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.

Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall--

(1) conduct--

(A) a detailed examination of all economic sanctions affecting United States businesses, differentiating between unilateral and multilateral economic sanctions;

(B) an assessment of comparable measures undertaken by other countries in each instance;

(C) an evaluation of the effectiveness of both unilateral and multilateral economic sanctions in meeting stated policy goals;

(D) an assessment on humanitarian conditions within sanctioned countries, evaluating how sanctions have affected particular states;

(E) an assessment of the relationship with United States allies as a consequence of unilateral economic sanctions;

(F) an examination of the economic impact of sanctions on United States producers and exporters; and

(G) an assessment of potential countries that may be sanctioned under existing United States law or executive authority, but which are not now subject to sanctions (whether because of presidentially exercised waivers, or statutes or executive orders not being applied); and

(2) submit to the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report on the matters addressed in paragraph (1).

SEC. 302. PROHIBITION ON UNILATERAL AGRICULTURAL OR MEDICAL SANCTIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President shall not restrict or otherwise prohibit any exports (including restricted commercial or Federal financing) of food, other agricultural products (including fertilizer), medicines, or medical supplies or equipment as part of any policy of existing or future unilateral economic sanctions imposed against a foreign government.

(b) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER- The President may waive, for periods of not more than 1 year each, the applicability of any sanction under subsection (a) with respect to a foreign country or entity if the President, with respect to each such waiver--

(1) determines that the national security so requires; and

(2) transmits to the Congress that determination, together with a detailed description of the reasons therefor, including an explanation of how the sanction will further the national security.

SEC. 303. ANNUAL REPORTS BY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.

The Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Congress, by not later than May 1 of each year, a report containing the following:

(1) The Secretary's assessment of all markets where United States exports of agricultural commodities are limited because of multilateral or unilateral economic sanctions, including specific commodities affected.

(2) The economic impact on producers of the commodities specified under paragraph (1).

(3) An assessment of the extent to which displaced United States commodities are being supplied by foreign competitors.

(4) The expected longer-term consequences of interrupting United States exports.

(5) Any assistance provided by the Foreign Agricultural Service to offset lost markets due to such sanctions.

SEC. 304. ACTIONS BY DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The Secretary of Agriculture shall expand agricultural export assistance under United States market development, food assistance, or export promotion programs to offset all projected losses of agricultural commodity markets from unilateral or multilateral sanctions identified under section 303, to the maximum extent permitted by law and by the obligations of the United States under the Agreement on Agriculture referred to in section 101(d)(2) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(2)).

SEC. 305. DEFINITION.

As used in this title, the term `unilateral economic sanction' means any restriction or condition on economic activity with respect to a foreign country or foreign entity that is imposed by the United States for reasons of foreign policy or national security, except in a case in which the United States imposes the measure pursuant to a multilateral regime and the other members of that regime have agreed to impose substantially equivalent measures.

SEC. 401. TEMPORARY REMOVAL OF LIMIT ON AUTHORIZED AMOUNT OF MARKETING LOAN GAINS AND LOAN DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS.

Section 1001(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: `However, this limitation shall not apply during the 1999 and 2000 crop years.'.

SEC. 501. UPLAND COTTON PRICE COMPETITIVENESS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 136(a) of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7236(a)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking `or cash payments' and inserting `or cash payments, at the option of the recipient,';

(2) by striking `3 cents per pound' each place it appears and inserting `1.25 cents per pound';

(3) in the first sentence of paragraph (3)(A), by striking `owned by the Commodity Credit Corporation in such manner, and at such price levels, as the Secretary determines will best effectuate the purposes of cotton user marketing certificates' and inserting `owned by the Commodity Credit Corporation or pledged to the Commodity Credit Corporation as collateral for a loan in such manner, and at such price levels, as the Secretary determines will best effectuate the purposes of cotton user marketing certificates, including enhancing the competitiveness and marketability of United States cotton'; and

(4) by striking paragraph (4).

(b) ENSURING THE AVAILABILITY OF UPLAND COTTON- Section 136(b) of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7236(b)) is amended--

(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:

`(1) ESTABLISHMENT-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The President shall carry out an import quota program during the period ending July 31, 2003, as provided in this subsection.

`(B) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS- Except as provided in subparagraph (C), whenever the Secretary determines and announces that for any consecutive 4-week period, the Friday through Thursday average price quotation for the lowest-priced United States growth, as quoted for Middling (M) 1 3/32 -inch cotton, delivered C.I.F. Northern Europe, adjusted for the value of any certificate issued under subsection (a), exceeds the Northern Europe price by more than 1.25 cents per pound, there shall immediately be in effect a special import quota.

`(C) TIGHT DOMESTIC SUPPLY- During any month for which the Secretary estimates the season-ending United States upland cotton stocks-to-use ratio, as determined under subparagraph (D), to be below 16 percent, the Secretary, in making the determination under subparagraph (B), shall not adjust the Friday through Thursday average price quotation for the lowest-priced United States growth, as quoted for Middling (M) 1 3/32 -inch cotton, delivered C.I.F. Northern Europe, for the value of any certificates issued under subsection (a).

`(D) SEASON-ENDING UNITED STATES STOCKS-TO-USE RATIO- For the purposes of making estimates under subparagraph (C), the Secretary shall, on a monthly basis, estimate and report the season-ending United States upland cotton stocks-to-use ratio, excluding projected raw cotton imports but including the quantity of raw cotton that has been imported into the United States during the marketing year.'; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

`(7) LIMITATION- The quantity of cotton entered into the United States during any marketing year under the special import quota established under this subsection may not exceed the equivalent of 5 week's consumption of upland cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate of the 3 months immediately preceding the first special import quota established in any marketing year.'.

SEC. 601. ASSISTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND DAIRY PRODUCERS.

The Secretary of Agriculture shall use $325,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to provide assistance to livestock and dairy producers in a manner determined by the Secretary.

SEC. 701. EMERGENCY CONCESSIONAL SALES AND DONATIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Agriculture shall use $950,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out a purchase and donation or concessional sales initiative to promote the export of additional quantities of United States agricultural commodities using programs established under--

(1) the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714 et seq.);

(2) section 416 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1431);

(3) titles I and II of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and

(4) the Food for Progress Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1736o).

(b) SPECIALTY CROPS- The Secretary shall use not more than $50,000,000 of the funds specified in subsection (a) to carry out this section to provide assistance to producers of fruits and vegetables.

SEC. 801. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING FULL ENROLLMENT OF LAND IN THE CONSERVATION RESERVE.

It is the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Agriculture should promptly enroll in the conservation reserve the full 36,400,000 acres authorized under section 1231(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(d)).

SEC. 901. AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT IN FULL OF REMAINING PAYMENTS UNDER PRODUCTION FLEXIBILITY CONTRACTS.

Section 112(d)(3) of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7212(d)(3)) is amended--

(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking `FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999';

(2) by striking `for fiscal year 1999' and inserting `for any of fiscal years 1999 through 2002'; and

(3) by striking `that fiscal year' and inserting `that same fiscal year'.

SEC. 1001. CROP INSURANCE PREMIUM DISCOUNT FOR 2000 CROP YEAR.

The Secretary of Agriculture shall use $500,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to assist agricultural producers in purchasing additional coverage for the 2000 crop year under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).