To reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 and to amend the swine reporting provisions of that Act.

Mr. President, I agree with Senators Harkin and Grassley about the importance of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act (LMRA) to producers. For over a year, I have worked with the Senators from Iowa in their attempt to craft consensus language to which all interested parties could agree. I agreed to wait for a report from the Government Accountability Office, GAO, even though there was concern that the report would be released after the expiration of this important mandatory program. Since that time, packers have continued to consistently report on a voluntary basis limiting potential disruptions to the information provided by LMRA to the marketplace. While I understand my colleague's interest in implementing the recommendations from GAO, I am also concerned that all stakeholders--producers and packers--have comfort and assurance in this program and that any changes made to the program will minimize potential litigation and the false reporting of data.

I intend to work with Senators Harkin and Grassley to ensure that there is another opportunity to find consensus among interested parties in implementing further changes to the program. Next year provides an excellent opportunity to debate this and other issues of importance to the livestock industry during the farm bill reauthorization process. In addition, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry will conduct a hearing in the spring of 2007 that will focus on livestock issues which will allow us to explore any needed changes to the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act.

Although the Senators from Iowa and I have worked diligently with livestock groups and the packing industry to address the concerns of all interested parties, we were not able to reach an agreement. Given the limited time before adjournment, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 3408, which has passed the House, and will reinstate the mandatory provisions of this much needed program. As I said previously, I will continue to work with the Senators from Iowa next year on the farm bill to arrive at consensus legislation that all stakeholders can support.

Finally, I would like to commend all of the industry groups that have worked on this issue for over a year. The countless hours of negotiations, meetings, and debate are healthy and represent the American legislative process at its best. The complexity of this issue has unfortunately made it impossible to accommodate all the changes requested by the Senators from Iowa, but I commend them for recognizing the importance of this program for not only producers in Iowa, but producers across this great Nation. H.R. 3408 will provide price discovery and transparency to the marketplace, allowing all producers to confidently receive fair prices for their livestock.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3408) to reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 and to amend the swine reporting provisions of that Act, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3408, a bill to reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999.

Mr. Speaker, when the Congress considered this legislation in 1999, its intent was to improve the livestock market news reporting system so that farmers and ranchers, particularly those that rely on cash market sales, could enjoy improved market transparency and better price discovery.

In particular, the Act provided the USDA with the authority to collect and disseminate information that can be readily understood by livestock producers, packers, and other participants, including information with respect to pricing, contract for purchase, and supply and demand conditions for livestock, livestock production, and livestock products.

The legislation enacted in 1999 was the product of extensive discussion between livestock producers and packers. We relied on this process partly because it was such a technical issue, but mostly we wanted to avoid the situation where segments of the industry were divided against each other. After considerable give and take, the final product was agreed on by all participants.

As the time for reauthorization neared, producers and packers engaged again in a dialogue to develop a consensus proposal for reauthorization. H.R. 3408 is the product of this hard work. The coalition that supports this consensus legislation included the National Pork Producers Council, the American Meat Institute, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the American Sheep Industry Association, and the American Farm Bureau Federation.

This package, as it appears before us today, is a carefully crafted document. All of these organizations have agreed that they will oppose it ``if any amendment is adopted that does not have the prior agreement'' of the coalition.

Mandatory price reporting expires at the end of September, and this bill reauthorizes it for 5 years with minor changes representing the consensus of our constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, the ranking member, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson) for working with us on this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. President, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act was enacted by Congress in 1999 to level the playing field for independent producers. This Act is important because it improves market transparency by requiring packers, processors, and importers to provide critical price, contracting, supply and demand information to USDA, which in turn creates price reports for livestock producers.

Since the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program was implemented by USDA, I have heard repeated concerns from producers about the accuracy and overall transparency of the program. Since this law was due to sunset, to get as many facts as possible for purposes of reauthorizing this important law, Senator Grassley and I requested an audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate the accuracy of the program. This GAO audit found numerous instances of limited transparency and lengthy lag times by USDA in actions to correct problems when packers failed to report or provide accurate information, and instances where USDA was excluding packer data in price reports but not making information about the exclusions available to the public.

Thus far, USDA has provided very little information to Congress regarding USDA's implementation of the six recommendations made by GAO. In fact, USDA has known of many of the problems described by GAO since 2001, but failed to act. That is why there needs to be strong oversight by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry to ensure this program is functioning correctly and that GAO's recommendations are fully implemented.

I do believe that some of the GAO recommendations would be better implemented if codified in law. Senator Grassley and I provided numerous farm and livestock groups and the packing industry draft legislation that would address the GAO recommendations and other outstanding producer concerns. This process has been difficult and has taken considerable time given the complexity of issues and diversity of the groups. Since a full consensus was not reached among these parties, the legislative changes will not be approved this year. Senator Grassley and I ask that Chairman Chambliss be willing to help us achieve these needed legislative changes in the next Congress.

I thank Chairman Chambliss for his patience throughout

this process and willingness and commitment to help Senator Grassley and me to get GAO's recommendations implemented. His commitment to help us pursue our legislative proposals next year is sincerely appreciated.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on this issue. Policy is always best when we can work together in a bipartisan manner to craft legislation which we have done on this piece of legislation and we have legislation that addresses the needs of his stakeholders. I think we have accomplished that today with the reauthorization of the mandatory price reporting law.

I think it should be noted that when this was first put together and considered back in 1999, it was somewhat controversial and there were some groups that were opposed to it. And to show you kind of what has happened this time, the groups that were concerned back then support this law and support this reauthorization.

Originally, it was balanced to address the concerns of the livestock producers with price transparency, and mandatory price reporting I think has served the industry well. Mandatory price reporting is a necessary tool to ensure that our producers have a transparent market atmosphere. As the structure of our livestock production systems continue to change, it is necessary to preserve the safety net that guarantees our producers are receiving fair prices for their livestock.

The legislation we consider today improves the quality and quantity of information, making the process more accurate and more efficient. The 5-year reauthorization is important and should be completed as soon as possible. It is important that we complete this task so we can avoid the gap in reporting that occurred last year.

I am pleased to support this bill with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and I urge its passage.

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

I also call on Chairman Chambliss to help Senator Harkin and me get much-needed answers to what USDA has done to implement the GAO recommendations. There has been a lack of believability regarding the information generated by the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program, many producers across Iowa and many parts of the Nation feel strongly that the information would be more valuable if the program had more credibility through improved transparency.

Last year, Senator Harkin and I introduced legislation, that passed the Senate by unanimous consent, that would extend the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act for one-year to allow additional time to review the GAO recommendations and develop needed modifications to the law to improve the functioning and operation of the program. Unfortunately, the House refused to take up the bill and the law expired. I conditioned my support of any multi-year extension or revision of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program on carrying out the GAO study results. Now we are at a crucial point with the legislative session coming to a close. Senator Harkin and I realize that we are facing strong opposition from the packing industry on moving a Senate version that includes the GAO recommendations. I ask for assurances from Chairman Chambliss that he will work with Senator Harkin and me to move our proposed legislative changes forward.