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Title II — Agriculture Concentration and Market Power Review Commission

H.R. 2933 · 116th Congress · May 22, 2019 · Lineage

II Agriculture Concentration and Market Power Review Commission

Sec. 201 Establishment of Commission

(a)
Establishment— There is established a commission to be known as the Food and Agriculture Concentration and Market Power Review Commission (hereafter in this title referred to as the “Commission”).
(b)
Purposes— The purpose of the Commission is to—
(1)
study the nature and consequences of concentration in America’s food and agricultural economy; and
(2)
make recommendations on how to change underlying antitrust laws and other Federal laws and regulations to keep a fair and competitive agriculture marketplace for family farmers, other small and medium-sized agriculture producers, generally, and the communities of which they are a part.
(c)
Membership of Commission—
(1)
Composition— The Commission shall be composed of 12 members as follows:
(A)
Three persons, 1 of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the majority leader of the Senate, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.
(B)
Three persons, 1 of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the Senate, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.
(C)
Three persons, 1 of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching and 1 of whom shall be a representative of organized labor, shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.
(D)
Three persons, 1 of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.
(2)
Qualifications of members—
(A)
Appointments— Persons who are appointed under paragraph (1) shall be persons who—
(i)
have experience in farming or ranching, expertise in agricultural economics and antitrust, or have other pertinent qualifications or experience relating to food and agriculture industries; and
(ii)
are not officers or employees of the United States.
(B)
Other consideration— In appointing Commission members, every effort shall be made to ensure that the members—
(i)
are representative of a broad cross sector of agriculture and antitrust perspectives within the United States; and
(ii)
provide fresh insights to analyzing the causes and impacts of concentration in agriculture industries and sectors.
(d)
Period of appointment; vacancies—
(1)
In general— Members shall be appointed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act and the appointment shall be for the life of the Commission.
(2)
Vacancies— Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
(e)
Initial meeting— Not later than 30 days after the date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meeting.
(f)
Meetings— The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.
(g)
Chairperson and vice Chairperson— The members of the Commission shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson from among the members of the Commission.
(h)
Quorum— A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
(i)
Voting— Each member of the Commission shall be entitled to 1 vote, which shall be equal to the vote of every other member of the Commission.

Sec. 202 Duties of the Commission

(a)
In general— The Commission shall be responsible for examining the nature, the causes, and consequences of concentration in America’s agricultural economy in the broadest possible terms.
(b)
Issues To be addressed— The study shall include an examination of the following matters:
(1)
The nature and extent of concentration in the food and agricultural sector, including food production, manufacturing, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, retailing, and farm inputs such as machinery, fertilizer, and seeds.
(2)
Current trends in concentration of the food and agricultural sector and what this sector is likely to look like in the near and longer term future.
(3)
The effects of rising concentration on suppliers, workers and farmers, including independent and contract farmers, with respect to—
(A)
competition in markets for their products and services;
(B)
income and benefit levels;
(C)
income distribution;
(D)
income volatility;
(E)
other material benefits; and
(F)
wages and benefits of employees.
(4)
The impacts of this concentration upon rural communities, rural economic development, and the natural environment.
(5)
The impacts of concentration in the seed industry on genetic diversity in farm fields and any related impacts on food security.
(6)
The impacts of this concentration upon food shoppers, including the reasons that low farm prices have not resulted in corresponding drops in supermarket prices.
(7)
Whether farming is approaching a scale that is larger than necessary from the standpoint of productivity.
(8)
The effect of current laws and administrative practices in supporting and encouraging this concentration.
(9)
Whether the existing antitrust laws provide adequate safeguards against, and remedies for, the impacts of concentration upon family farms, the communities they comprise, and the food shoppers of this Nation.
(10)
Accurate and reliable data on the national and international markets shares of multinational agribusinesses, and the portion of their sales attributable to exports.
(11)
Barriers that inhibit entry of new competitors into markets for the processing of agricultural commodities, such as the meat packing industry.
(12)
The extent to which developments, such as packer ownership of livestock, formula pricing, marketing agreements, production contracting, forward contracting, and vertical integration tend to give processors, agribusinesses, integrators, and other buyers of agricultural commodities additional market power over farmers and suppliers in local markets.
(13)
The extent to which mergers cause wage suppression, layoffs, or reduced benefits to workers in the food and agricultural sector.
(14)
Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.

Sec. 203 Final report

(a)
In general— Not later than 12 months after the date of the initial meeting of the Commission, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a final report which contains—
(1)
the findings and conclusions of the Commission described in section 202; and
(2)
recommendations for addressing the problems identified as part of the Commission’s analysis.
(b)
Separate views— Any member of the Commission may submit additional findings and recommendations as part of the final report.

Sec. 204 Powers of Commission

(a)
Hearings— The Commission may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission may find advisable to fulfill the requirements of this title. The Commission shall hold at least 1 or more hearings in Washington, DC, and 4 in different agriculture regions of the United States.
(b)
Information from Federal agencies— The Commission may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out the provisions of this title. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission.
(c)
Postal services— The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

Sec. 205 Commission personnel matters

(a)
Compensation of members— Each member of the Commission shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which such member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission.
(b)
Travel expenses— The members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission.
(c)
Staff—
(1)
In general— The Chairperson of the Commission may, without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive director and such other additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties. The employment of an executive director shall be subject to confirmation by the Commission.
(2)
Compensation— The Chairperson of the Commission may fix the compensation of the executive director and other personnel 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 personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
(d)
Detail of government employees— Any Federal Government employee shall be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.
(e)
Procurement of temporary and intermittent services— The Chairperson of the Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

Sec. 206 Support services

The Administrator of the General Services Administration shall provide to the Commission on a reimbursable basis such administrative support services as the Commission may request.

Sec. 207 Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 to the Commission as required by this title to carry out the provisions of this title.