To provide nearly $1,000,000,000 in critical home heating assistance to low-income families and senior citizens for the 2007-2008 winter season, and reduce the Federal deficit by eliminating wasteful farm subsidies.

TEXT OF AMENDMENTS

SA 3821. Mr. THUNE (for Mr. McConnell) proposed an amendment to
amendment SA 3500 proposed by Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Chambliss,
Mr. Baucus, and Mr. Grassley) to the bill H.R. 2419, to provide for the
continuation of agricultural programs through fiscal year 2012, and for
other purposes; as follows:

On page 20, line 11, strike ``pulse crops,''.
On page 23, strike paragraph (14) and redesignate
paragraphs (15) through (17) as paragraphs (14) through (16),
respectively.
On page 24, line 18, strike ``pulse crop or''.
On page 26, line 6, strike ``pulse crop or''.
On page 27, line 17, strike ``camelina, or eligible pulse
crop'' and insert ``or camelina''.
On page 27, lines 21 and 22, strike ``Camelina, and
Eligible Pulse Crops'' and insert ``and Camelina''.
On page 27, lines 24 and 25, strike ``camelina, and
eligible pulse crops'' and insert ``and camelina''.
On page 28, line 2, strike ``camelina, or pulse crop'' and
insert ``or camelina''.
On page 28, line 5, strike ``camelina, or pulse crop'' and
insert ``or camelina''.
On page 28, lines 8 and 9, strike ``camelina, or eligible
pulse crop'' and insert ``or camelina''.
Beginning on page 28, line 12, through page 29, line 9,
strike ``camelina, or pulse crop'' each place it appears and
insert ``or camelina''.
On page 29, lines 15 through 19, strike ``camelina, and
eligible pulse crops'' each place it appears and insert ``and
camelina''.
On page 29, line 24, strike ``(other than pulse crops)''.
On page 35, strike lines 8 through 13.
Beginning on page 49, strike line 19 and all that follows
through page 51, line 4, and insert the following:
(a) Loan Rates.--For each of the 2008 through 2012 crop
years, the loan rate for a marketing assistance loan under
section 1201 for a loan commodity shall be equal to the
following:
(1) In the case of wheat, $2.75 per bushel.
(2) In the case of corn, $1.95 per bushel.
(3) In the case of grain sorghum, $1.95 per bushel.
(4) In the case of barley, $1.85 per bushel.
(5) In the case of oats, $1.33 per bushel.
(6) In the case of the base quality of upland cotton, $0.52
per pound.
(7) In the case of extra long staple cotton, $0.7977 per
pound.
(8) In the case of long grain rice, $6.50 per
hundredweight.
(9) in the case of medium grain rice, $6.50 per
hundredweight.
(10) In the case of soybeans, $5.00 per bushel.
(11) In the case of other oilseeds, $.0930 per pound.
(12) In the case of dry peas, $5.40 per hundredweight.
(13) In the case of lentils, $11.28 per hundredweight.
(14) In the case of small chickpeas, $7.43 per
hundredweight.
(15) In the case of large chickpeas, $11.28 per
hundredweight.
(16) In the case of graded wool, $1.00 per pound.
(17) In the case of nongraded wool, $0.40 per pound.

[[Page S15079]]

(18) In the case of mohair, $4.20 per pound.
(19) In the case of honey, $0.60 per pound.
On page 85, line 4, strike ``pulse crop or''.
On page 86, line 18, strike ``pulse crop or''.
On page 663, between lines 18 and 19, insert the following:

SEC. 49__. PERIODIC SURVEYS OF FOODS PURCHASED BY SCHOOL FOOD
AUTHORITIES.

Section 6 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1755) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(f) Periodic Surveys of Foods Purchased by School Food
Authorities.--
``(1) In general.--For fiscal year 2008 and every fifth
fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary shall carry out a
nationally representative survey of the foods purchased
during the most recent school year for which data is
available by school authorities participating in the national
school lunch program.
``(2) Report.--On completion of each survey, the Secretary
shall submit to Congress a report that describes the results
of the survey.
``(3) Funding.--Of the funds made available under section
3, the Secretary shall use to carry out this subsection not
more than $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and every fifth
fiscal year thereafter.''.
On page 672, between lines 6 and 7, insert the following:

SEC. 49__. TEAM NUTRITION NETWORK.

Section 19 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.
1788) is amended by striking subsection (l) and inserting the
following:
``(l) Funding.--
``(1) Mandatory funding.--
``(A) In general.--On October 1, 2008, and on each October
1 thereafter through October 1, 2011, out of any funds in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary to carry out this
section $25,000,000, to remain available until expended.
``(B) Receipt and acceptance.--The Secretary shall be
entitled to receive, shall accept, and shall use to carry out
this section the funds transferred under subparagraph (A),
without further appropriation.
``(C) Nutritional health of school children.--In allocating
funds made available under this paragraph, the Secretary
shall give priority to carrying out subsections (a) through
(g).
``(2) Authorization of appropriations.--In addition to the
amounts made available under paragraph (1), there are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to
carry out this section.''.
SA 3822. Mr. THUNE (for Mr. Gregg) proposed an amendment to amendment
SA 3500 proposed by Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Baucus,
and Mr. Grassley) to the bill H.R. 2419, to provide for the
continuation of agricultural programs through fiscal year 2012, and for
other purposes; as follows:

Strike subtitle A of title XII and insert the following:

Subtitle A--Low-Income Home Energy Assistance

SEC. 12101. APPROPRIATIONS.

In addition to any amounts appropriated under any other
Federal law, there is appropriated, out of any money in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fiscal year 2008,
$924,000,000 (to remain available until expended) for making
payments under section 2604(e) of the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8623(e)), notwithstanding
the designation requirement of section 2602(e) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 8621(e)).

SEC. 12102. DEFICIT REDUCTION.

It is the sense of Congress that the difference between--
(1) the amount that would be made available under subtitle
A of title XII (as specified in Senate amendment 3500, as
proposed on November 5, 2007, to H.R. 2419, 110th Congress);
and
(2) the amount made available under section 12101,

should be used only for deficit reduction.
SA 3823. Mr. THUNE (for Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Kohl, and Mr.
Harkin)) proposed an amendment to amendment SA 3500 proposed by Mr.
Harkin (for himself, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Baucus, and Mr. Grassley) to
the bill H.R. 2419, to provide for the continuation of agricultural
programs through fiscal year 2012, and for other purposes; as follows:

On page 1220, between lines 11 and 12, insert the
following:
(c) Agriculture Competition Task Force.--
(1) Establishment.--There is established, under the
authority of the Attorney General, the Agriculture
Competition Task Force, to examine problems in agricultural
competition.
(2) Membership.--The Task Force shall consist of--
(A) the Assistant Attorney General, who shall serve as
chairperson of the Task Force;
(B) the Special Counsel;
(C) a representative from the Federal Trade Commission;
(D) a representative from the Department of Agriculture,
Office of Packers and Stockyards;
(E) 1 representative selected jointly by the attorneys
general of States desiring to participate in the Task Force;
(F) 1 representative selected jointly by the heads of the
departments of agriculture (or similar such agency) of States
desiring to participate in the Task Force;
(G) 8 individuals who represent the interests of small
family farmers, ranchers, independent producers, packers,
processors, and other components of the agricultural
industry--
(i) 2 of whom shall be selected by the Majority Leader of
the Senate;
(ii) 2 of whom shall be selected by the Minority Leader of
the Senate;
(iii) 2 of whom shall be selected by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives; and
(iv) 2 of whom shall be selected by the Minority Leader of
the House of Representatives; and
(H) 4 academics or other independent experts working in the
field of agriculture, agricultural law, antitrust law, or
economics--
(i) 1 of whom shall be selected by the Majority Leader of
the Senate;
(ii) 1 of whom shall be selected by the Minority Leader of
the Senate;
(iii) 1 of whom shall be selected by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives; and
(iv) 1 of whom shall be selected by the Minority Leader of
the House of Representatives.
(3) Duties.--The Task Force shall--
(A) study problems in competition in the agricultural
industry;
(B) establish ways to coordinate Federal and State
activities to address unfair and deceptive practices and
concentration in the agricultural industry;
(C) work with representatives from agriculture and rural
communities to identify abusive practices in the agricultural
industry;
(D) submit to Congress such reports as the Task Force
determines appropriate on the state of family farmers and
ranchers, and the impact of agricultural concentration and
unfair business practices on rural communities in the United
States; and
(E) make such recommendations to Congress as the Task Force
determines appropriate on agricultural competition issues,
which shall include any additional or dissenting views of the
members of the Task Force.
(4) Working group.--
(A) In general.--The Task Force shall establish a working
group on buyer power to study the effects of concentration,
monopsony, and oligopsony in agriculture, make
recommendations to the Assistant Attorney General and the
Chairman, and assist the Assistant Attorney General and the
Chairman in drafting agricultural guidelines under subsection
(e)(1).
(B) Members.--The working group shall include any member of
the Task Force selected under paragraph (2)(H).
(5) Meetings.--
(A) First meeting.--The Task Force shall hold its initial
meeting not later than the later of--
(i) 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act; and
(ii) 30 days after the date of enactment of an Act making
appropriations to carry out this subsection.
(B) Minimum number.--The Task Force shall meet not less
than once each year, at the call of the chairperson.
(6) Compensation.--
(A) In general.--The members of the Task Force shall serve
without compensation.
(B) Travel expenses.--Members of the Task Force shall
receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
subsistence, in accordance with subchapter I of chapter 57 of
title 5, United States Code.
(7) Staff of task force; experts and consultants.--
(A) Staff.--
(i) Appointment.--The chairperson of the Task Force may,
without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 of title 5,
United States Code (relating to appointments in the
competitive service), appoint and terminate an executive
director and such other staff as are necessary to enable the
Task Force to perform its duties. The appointment of an
executive director shall be subject to approval by the Task
Force.
(ii) Compensation.--The chairperson of the Task Force may
fix the compensation of the executive director and other
staff without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and
subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code
(relating to classification of positions and General Schedule
pay rates), except that the rate of pay for the executive
director and other staff may not exceed the rate of basic pay
payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section
5315 of title 5, United States Code, as in effect from time
to time.
(B) Experts and consultants.--The Task Force may procure
temporary and intermittent services of experts and
consultants in accordance with section 3109(b) of title 5,
United States Code.
(8) Powers of the task force.--
(A) Hearings and meetings.--The Task Force, or a member of
the Task Force if authorized by the Task Force, may hold such
hearings, sit and act at such time and places, take such
testimony, receive such evidence, and administer such oaths
or affirmations as the Task Force considers to be
appropriate.
(B) Official data.--
(i) In general.--The Task Force may obtain directly from
any executive agency (as defined in section 105 of title 5,
United States Code) or court information necessary to enable
it to carry out its duties under this subsection. On the
request of the chairperson of the Task Force, and consistent
with any other law, the head of an executive agency or

[[Page S15080]]

of a Federal court shall provide such information to the Task
Force.
(ii) Confidential information.--The Task Force shall adopt
procedures that ensure that confidential information is
adequately protected.
(C) Facilities and support services.--The Administrator of
General Services shall provide to the Task Force on a
reimbursable basis such facilities and support services as
the Task Force may request. On request of the Task Force, the
head of an executive agency may make any of the facilities or
services of such agency available to the Task Force, on a
reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, to assist the Task
Force in carrying out its duties under this subsection.
(D) Expenditures and contracts.--The Task Force or, on
authorization of the Task Force, a member of the Task Force
may make expenditures and enter into contracts for the
procurement of such supplies, services, and property as the
Task Force or such member considers to be appropriate for the
purpose of carrying out the duties of the Task Force. Such
expenditures and contracts may be made only to such extent or
in such amounts as are provided in advance in appropriation
Acts.
(E) Mails.--The Task Force may use the United States mails
in the same manner and under the same conditions as other
departments and agencies of the United States.
(F) Gifts, bequests, and devises.--The Task Force may
accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or devises of
services or property, both real and personal, for the purpose
of aiding or facilitating the work of the Task Force. Gifts,
bequests, or devises of money and proceeds from sales of
other property received as gifts, bequests, or devises shall
be deposited in the Treasury and shall be available for
disbursement upon order of the Task Force.
(9) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $1,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010.
(d) Authorization for Additional Staff and Funding.--There
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary
to hire additional employees (including agricultural law and
economics experts) for the Transportation, Energy, and
Agriculture Section of the Antitrust Division of the
Department of Justice, to enhance the review of agricultural
transactions and monitor, investigate, and prosecute unfair
and deceptive practices in the agricultural industry.
(e) Ensuring Full and Free Competition in Agriculture.--
(1) Agricultural guidelines.--
(A) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(i) The effective enforcement of the antitrust laws in
agriculture requires that the antitrust enforcement agencies
have guidelines with respect to mergers and other
anticompetitive conduct that are focused on the special
circumstances of agricultural commodity markets.
(ii) There has been a substantial increase in concentration
in the markets in which agricultural commodities are sold,
with the result that buyers of agricultural commodities often
possess regional dominance in the form of oligopsony or
monopsony relative to sellers of such commodities. A
substantial part of this increase in market concentration is
the direct result of mergers and acquisitions that the
antitrust enforcement agencies did not challenge, in large
part because of the lack of guidelines focused on identifying
particular structural characteristics in the agricultural
industry and the adverse competitive effects that such
acquisitions and mergers would create.
(iii) The cost of transportation, impact on quality, and
delay in sales of agricultural commodities if they are to be
transported to more distant buyers may result in narrow
geographic markets with respect to buyer power.
(iv) Buyers have no economic incentive to bid up the price
of agricultural commodities in the absence of effective
competition. Further, the nature of buying may make it
feasible for larger numbers of buyers to engage in tacit or
overt collusion to restrain price competition.
(v) Buyers with oligopsonistic or monopsonistic power have
incentives to engage in unfair, discriminatory, and
exclusionary acts that cause producers of agricultural
commodities to receive less than a competitive price for
their goods, transfer economic risks to sellers without
reasonable compensation, and exclude sellers from access to
the market.
(vi) Markets for agricultural commodities often involve
contexts in which many producers have relatively limited
information and bargaining power with respect to the sale of
their commodities. These conditions invite buyers with
significant oligopsonistic or monopsonistic power to exercise
that power in ways that involve discrimination and undue
differentiation among sellers.
(B) Issuance of guidelines.--After consideration of the
findings under subparagraph (A), the Assistant Attorney
General and the Chairman, in consultation with the Special
Counsel, shall issue agricultural guidelines that--
(i) facilitate a fair, open, accessible, transparent, and
efficient market system for agricultural products;
(ii) recognize that not decreasing competition in the
purchase of agricultural products by highly concentrated
firms from a sector in perfect competition is entirely
consistent with the objective of the antitrust laws to
protect consumers and enhance consumer benefits from
competition; and
(iii) require the Assistant Attorney General or the
Chairman, as the case may be, to challenge any merger or
acquisition in the agricultural industry, if the effect of
that merger or acquisition may be to substantially lessen
competition or tend to create a monopoly.
(C) Contents.--The agricultural guidelines issued under
subparagraph (B) shall consist of merger guidelines relating
to existing and potential competition and vertical
integration that--
(i) establish appropriate methodologies for determining the
geographic and product markets for mergers affecting
agricultural commodity markets;
(ii) establish thresholds of increased concentration that
raise a concern that the merger will have an adverse effect
on competition in the affected agricultural commodities
markets;
(iii) identify potential adverse competitive effects of
mergers in agricultural commodities markets in a nonexclusive
manner; and
(iv) identify the factors that would permit an enforcement
agency to determine when a merger in the agricultural
commodities market might avoid liability because it is not
likely to have an adverse effect on competition.
(2) Agriculture competition task force working group on
buying power.--In issuing agricultural guidelines under this
subsection, the Chairman and the Assistant Attorney General
shall consult with the working group on buyer power of the
Task Force established under subsection (c)(4).
(3) Completion.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Chairman and the Assistant
Attorney General shall--
(A) issue agricultural guidelines under this subsection;
(B) submit to Congress the agricultural guidelines issued
under this subsection; and
(C) submit to Congress a report explaining the basis for
the guidelines, including why it incorporated or did not
incorporate each recommendation of the working group on buyer
power of the Task Force established under subsection (c)(4).
(4) Report.--Not later than 30 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Chairman and the Assistant
Attorney General shall jointly submit a report to the
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives regarding the
issuing of agricultural guidelines under this subsection.
(f) Agribusiness Merger Review and Enforcement by the
Department of Agriculture.--
(1) Notice.--The Assistant Attorney General or the
Commissioner, as appropriate, shall notify the Secretary of
any filing under section 7A of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C.
18a) involving a merger or acquisition in the agricultural
industry, and shall give the Secretary the opportunity to
participate in the review proceedings.
(2) Review.--
(A) In general.--After receiving notice of a merger or
acquisition under paragraph (1), the Secretary may submit to
the Assistant Attorney General or the Commissioner, as
appropriate, and publish the comments of the Secretary
regarding that merger or acquisition, including a
determination regarding whether the merger or acquisition may
present significant competition and buyer power concerns,
such that further review by the Assistant Attorney General or
the Commissioner, as appropriate, is warranted.
(B) Second requests.--For any merger or acquisition
described in paragraph (1), if the Assistant Attorney General
or the Chairman, as the case may be, requires the submission
of additional information or documentary material under
section 7A(e)(1)(A) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C.
18a(e)(1)(A))--
(i) copies of any materials provided in response to such a
request shall be made available to the Secretary; and
(ii) the Secretary--

(I) shall submit to the Assistant Attorney General or the
Chairman such additional comments as the Secretary determines
appropriate; and
(II) shall publish a summary of any comments submitted
under subclause (I).

(3) Report.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall submit an annual
report to Congress regarding the review of mergers and
acquisitions described in paragraph (1).
(B) Contents.--Each report submitted under subparagraph (A)
shall provide a description of each merger or acquisition
described in paragraph (1) that was reviewed by the Secretary
during the year before the date that report is submitted,
including--
(i) the name and total resources of each entity involved in
that merger or acquisition;
(ii) a statement of the views of the Secretary regarding
the competitive effects of that merger or acquisition on
agricultural markets, including rural communities and small,
independent producers; and
(iii) a statement indicating whether the Assistant Attorney
General or the Chairman, as the case may be, instituted a
proceeding or action under the antitrust laws, and if so, the
status of that proceeding or action.
(g) Authorization for Additional Staff and Funding for the
Grain Inspection,

[[Page S15081]]

Packers, and Stockyards Administration.--There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to enhance the
capability of the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards
Administration to monitor, investigate, and pursue the
competitive implications of structural changes in the meat
packing and poultry industries by hiring litigating attorneys
to allow the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards
Administration to more comprehensively and effectively pursue
its enforcement activities.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agricultural commodity.--The term ``agricultural
commodity''--
(A) has the meaning given that term in section 102 of the
Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602); and
(B) does not include biofuels.
(2) Agricultural cooperative.--The term ``agricultural
cooperative'' means an association of persons that meets the
requirements of the Capper-Volstead Act (7 U.S.C. 291 et
seq.).
(3) Agricultural industry.--The term ``agricultural
industry''--
(A) means any dealer, processor, commission merchant, or
broker involved in the buying or selling of agricultural
commodities; and
(B) does not include sale or marketing at the retail level.
(4) Antitrust laws.--The term ``antitrust laws'' has the
meaning given that term in the first section of the Clayton
Act (15 U.S.C. 12).
(5) Assistant attorney general.--The term ``Assistant
Attorney General'' means the Assistant Attorney General in
charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of
Justice.
(6) Biofuel.--The term ``biofuel'' has the meaning given
that term in section 9001 of the Farm Security and Rural
Investment Act of 2002, as amended by section 9001 of this
Act.
(7) Broker.--The term ``broker'' means any person
(excluding an agricultural cooperative) engaged in the
business of negotiating sales and purchases of any
agricultural commodity in commerce for or on behalf of the
vendor or the purchaser.
(8) Chairman.--The term ``Chairman'' means the Chairman of
the Federal Trade Commission.
(9) Commission merchant.--The term ``commission merchant''
means any person (excluding an agricultural cooperative)
engaged in the business of receiving in commerce any
agricultural commodity for sale, on commission, or for or on
behalf of another.
(10) Dealer.--The term ``dealer'' means any person
(excluding an agricultural cooperative) engaged in the
business of buying, selling, or marketing agricultural
commodities in commerce, except that no person shall be
considered a dealer with respect to sales or marketing of any
agricultural commodity produced by that person.
(11) Processor.--The term ``processor'' means any person
(excluding an agricultural cooperative) engaged in the
business of handling, preparing, or manufacturing (including
slaughtering) an agricultural commodity, or the products of
such agricultural commodity, for sale or marketing in
commerce for human consumption (excluding sale or marketing
at the retail level).
(12) Special counsel.--The term ``Special Counsel'' means
the Special Counsel for Agricultural Competition of the
Department of Agriculture established under section 11 of the
Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, as added by this Act.
(13) Task force.--The term ``Task Force'' means the
Agriculture Competition Task Force established under
subsection (c).

____________________