A bill to amend the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 1999 to modify the termination date for mandatory price reporting.

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.

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 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.

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.

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. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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. Speaker, I am unable to be in Washington, DC today. Two weeks ago, I injured my leg and my physician prefers that I not put it through the stress of an airplane flight from my home in Seattle, WA to Washington, DC. Were I able to attend today's session in the House of Representatives, I would have voted in support of:

S. 1301, H.R. 5364, H. Con. Res. 430, S. 2965, H.R. 4516, H.R. 3204,

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2965, which was introduced earlier today by Senator Cochran.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements regarding this matter be printed in the Record.