[As Amended by House Committee of the Whole]
[As Further Amended by Senate Committee of the Whole]
As Amended by Senate Committee
Session of 1999
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1605
By Committee on Agriculture
1-13
12 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging Congress to remove or re-
13 strict the use of trade sanctions as they apply to agricultural products
14 and to work for the reduction or elimination of trade barriers
15 and sanctions imposed by other countries against agricultural
16 products [and urging Congress to pass laws that prohibit dis-
17 criminatory pricing, require mandatory price reporting by
18 packers, prohibit retaliation against a producer by a packer and
19 require country of origin labeling on foreign beef and pork
20 raised and produced in other countries].
21
22 WHEREAS, the export of agricultural commodities has provided the
23 United States the only positive return on its balance of trade; and
24 WHEREAS, the only way to insure that a positive return on the bal-
25 ance of trade continues is to allow international markets to remain open;
26 and
27 WHEREAS, the use of unilateral economic sanctions rarely achieve
28 its goal, but cause substantial harm to the producers of products; and
29 WHEREAS, not only do the sanctions imposed by the United
30 States cause great harm to the Kansas farmer, but so do the unfair
31 trade barriers and sanctions imposed on agricultural products by
32 other countries; and
33 WHEREAS, the storage of grain on the ground in Kansas is just one
34 example of the adverse affects sanctions have on agricultural products;
35 and
36 [WHEREAS, Market concentration in the beef and pork packing
37 industry has reached unprecedented proportions; and
38 [WHEREAS, The lack of competition in the meat packing in-
39 dustry has resulted in historically low beef and pork prices for
40 producers and historically high prices for consumer; and
41 [WHEREAS, The national pork producers council has testified
SCR 1605--Am. by HCW
2
1 before the United States Congress as to the need for mandatory
2 price reporting by packers; and
3 [WHEREAS, The national cattleman's beef association has
4 passed a resolution in support of mandatory price reporting; and
5 [WHEREAS, Foreign beef and pork products are not raised or
6 produced under the same regulatory standards to insure consumer
7 health and safety as beef and pork raised and produced in the
8 United States; and]
9 WHEREAS, economic sanctions hinder the export of agricultural
10 products, exacerbating the transportation of such products and possibly
11 lowering the price received by the Kansas farmer for such agricultural
12 products: Now, therefore,
13 Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Kansas, the House of Rep-
14 resentatives concurring therein: That Congress remove or restrict the
15 use of trade sanctions as they apply to agricultural products and that
16 Congress insures that the use of trade sanctions will result in meaningful
17 results; and
18 Be it further resolved: That Congress work for the reduction and
19 elimination of trade barriers and sanctions imposed by other coun-
20 tries against agricultural products; and
21 [Be it further resolved: That Congress pass laws that prohibit dis-
22 criminatory pricing by packers, require mandatory price reporting
23 by packers and prohibit retaliation against a producer by a packer;
24 and
25 [Be it further resolved: That Congress pass laws that require coun-
26 try of origin labeling on foreign beef and pork products raised and
27 produced in other countries as currently required for beef and
28 pork raised in the United States; and]
29 Be it further resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send
30 enrolled copies of this resolution to the President of the United States,
31 President [the Vice-President of the United States], Majority Leader
32 and Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker, Major-
33 ity Leader and Minority Leader of the United States House of Rep-
34 resentatives, the secretary of the United States Department of State, the
35 Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture[, the At-
36 torney General of the United States] and to each member of the
37 Kansas Congressional Delegation.
38