| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1380 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to establish the Office |
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| 6 | 6 | | of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | FEBRUARY14, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. G |
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| 10 | 10 | | OTTHEIMERintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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| 11 | 11 | | Committee on Agriculture |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to estab- |
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| 14 | 14 | | lish the Office of the Special Investigator for Competition |
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| 15 | 15 | | Matters, and for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Meat and Poultry Spe-4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | cial Investigator Act’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR COM-6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | PETITION MATTERS. 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, is amended 8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | by inserting after section 415 (7 U.S.C. 228d) the fol-9 |
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| 25 | 25 | | lowing: 10 |
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| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1380.IH H1380 |
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| 27 | 27 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •HR 1380 IH |
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| 29 | 29 | | ‘‘SEC. 416. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | COMPETITION MATTERS. 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | ‘‘(a) E |
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| 32 | 32 | | STABLISHMENT.—There is established within 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | the Packers and Stockyards Division of the Department 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | of Agriculture an office, to be known as the ‘Office of the 5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Special Investigator for Competition Matters’ (referred to 6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | in this section as the ‘Office’). 7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘(b) S |
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| 38 | 38 | | PECIALINVESTIGATOR FOR COMPETITION 8 |
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| 39 | 39 | | M |
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| 40 | 40 | | ATTERS.—The Office shall be headed by the Special In-9 |
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| 41 | 41 | | vestigator for Competition Matters (referred to in this sec-10 |
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| 42 | 42 | | tion as the ‘Special Investigator’), who shall be appointed 11 |
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| 43 | 43 | | by the Secretary. 12 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ‘‘(c) D |
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| 45 | 45 | | UTIES.—The Special Investigator shall— 13 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ‘‘(1) use all available tools, including subpoenas, 14 |
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| 47 | 47 | | to investigate and prosecute violations of this Act; 15 |
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| 48 | 48 | | ‘‘(2) serve as a Department of Agriculture liai-16 |
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| 49 | 49 | | son to, and act in consultation with, the Department 17 |
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| 50 | 50 | | of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission with 18 |
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| 51 | 51 | | respect to competition and trade practices in the 19 |
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| 52 | 52 | | food and agricultural sector; 20 |
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| 53 | 53 | | ‘‘(3) act in consultation with the Department of 21 |
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| 54 | 54 | | Homeland Security with respect to national security 22 |
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| 55 | 55 | | and critical infrastructure security in the food and 23 |
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| 56 | 56 | | agricultural sector; and 24 |
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| 57 | 57 | | ‘‘(4) maintain a staff of attorneys and other 25 |
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| 58 | 58 | | professionals with appropriate expertise. 26 |
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| 59 | 59 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1380.IH H1380 |
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| 60 | 60 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | •HR 1380 IH |
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| 62 | 62 | | ‘‘(d) PROSECUTORIAL AUTHORITY.—Notwith-1 |
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| 63 | 63 | | standing title 28, United States Code, the Special Investi-2 |
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| 64 | 64 | | gator shall have the authority to bring any civil or admin-3 |
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| 65 | 65 | | istrative action authorized under this Act.’’. 4 |
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| 66 | 66 | | Æ |
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| 67 | 67 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1380.IH H1380 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
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