Livestock Concentration Report Act

[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1340 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1340

 To require the President to appoint a Commission on Concentration in
                        the Livestock Industry.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             October 19 (legislative day, October 18), 1995

 Mr. Daschle (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Wellstone, Mr.
Kerrey, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Craig, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Dorgan, Mr.
Bond, Mr. Pressler, Ms. Murray, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Burns, and
   Mr. Exon) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To require the President to appoint a Commission on Concentration in
                        the Livestock Industry.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Livestock Concentration Report Act
of 1995''.

SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSION.

    Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the President shall appoint a Commission on Concentration in the
Livestock Industry which shall be composed of the Secretary of
Agriculture, who shall be the chairperson of the Commission, and 2
members appointed from among individuals in each of the following
categories:
            (1) Cattle producers.
            (2) Hog producers.
            (3) Lamb producers.
            (4) Experts in antitrust laws.
            (5) Economists.
            (6) Corporate chief financial officers.
            (7) Corporate procurement experts.

SEC. 3. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Duties.--The Commission on Concentration in the Livestock
Industry shall--
            (1) determine whether the study of concentration in the red
        meat packing industry adequately--
                    (A) examined and identified regional procurement
                markets for slaughter cattle in the continental United
                States,
                    (B) analyzed the effects that slaughter cattle
                procurement practices, and concentration in the
                procurement of slaughter cattle, have on the purchasing
                and pricing of slaughter cattle by beef packers,
                    (C) examined the use of captive cattle supply
                arrangements by beef packers and the effects of such
                arrangements on slaughter cattle markets,
                    (D) examined the economics of vertical integration
                and of coordination arrangements in the hog
                slaughtering and processing industry,
                    (E) examined the pricing and procurement by hog
                slaughtering plants operating in the eastern corn belt,
                    (F) reviewed the pertinent research literature on
                issues relating to the structure and operation of the
                meat packing industry, and
                    (G) represents, for the matters described in
                subparagraphs (A) through (F), the current situation in
                the livestock industry compared to the situation of
                such industry reflected in the data on which such study
                is based,
            (2) review the application of the antitrust laws, and the
        operation of other Federal laws applicable, with respect to
        concentration and vertical integration in the procurement and
        pricing of slaughter cattle and of slaughter hogs by meat
        packers,
            (3) make recommendations regarding whether the laws
        relating to the operation of the meat packing industry should
        be modified regarding the concentration, vertical integration,
        and vertical coordination in such industry,
            (4) review the farm-to-retail price spread for livestock
        during the period beginning on January 1, 1993, and ending on
        the date the report is submitted under section 4,
            (5) review the adequacy of price data obtained by the
        Department of Agriculture under section 203 of the Agricultural
        Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1622),
            (6) make recommendations regarding the adequacy of price
        discovery in the livestock industry for animals held for
        market, and
            (7) review the lamb industry study completed by the
        Department of Justice in 1993.
    (b) Solicitation of Information.--For purposes of complying with
the requirements of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (a), the
Commission on Concentration in the Livestock Industry shall solicit
information from all parts of the livestock industry, including
livestock producers, livestock marketers, meat packers, meat
processors, and retailers.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    (a) Submission of Report to the President.--Not later than 90 days
after the study of concentration in the red meat packing industry is
submitted to the Congress, the Commission on Concentration in the
Livestock Industry shall submit to the President a report summarizing
the results of the duties carried out under section 3. Not later than
30 days after the President receives such report, the President shall
terminate the Commission.
    (b) Transmission of Report to the Congress.--The President shall
promptly transmit, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
the President pro tempore of the Senate, a copy of the report the
President receives under subsection (a).

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``antitrust laws'' has the meaning given it in
        subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15
        U.S.C. 12(a)), except that such term includes section 5 of the
        Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such
        section applies to unfair methods of competition, and
            (2) the term ``study of concentration in the red meat
        packing industry'' means the study of concentration in the red
        meat packing industry proposed by the Department of Agriculture
        in the Federal Register on January 9, 1992 (57 Fed. Reg. 875),
        and for which funds were appropriated by Public Law 102-142.
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