I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1380
To amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to establish the Office
of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY14, 2025
Mr. G
OTTHEIMERintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to estab-
lish the Office of the Special Investigator for Competition
Matters, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Meat and Poultry Spe-4
cial Investigator Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR COM-6
PETITION MATTERS. 7
The Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, is amended 8
by inserting after section 415 (7 U.S.C. 228d) the fol-9
lowing: 10
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‘‘SEC. 416. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR 1
COMPETITION MATTERS. 2
‘‘(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established within 3
the Packers and Stockyards Division of the Department 4
of Agriculture an office, to be known as the ‘Office of the 5
Special Investigator for Competition Matters’ (referred to 6
in this section as the ‘Office’). 7
‘‘(b) S
PECIALINVESTIGATOR FOR COMPETITION 8
M
ATTERS.—The Office shall be headed by the Special In-9
vestigator for Competition Matters (referred to in this sec-10
tion as the ‘Special Investigator’), who shall be appointed 11
by the Secretary. 12
‘‘(c) D
UTIES.—The Special Investigator shall— 13
‘‘(1) use all available tools, including subpoenas, 14
to investigate and prosecute violations of this Act; 15
‘‘(2) serve as a Department of Agriculture liai-16
son to, and act in consultation with, the Department 17
of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission with 18
respect to competition and trade practices in the 19
food and agricultural sector; 20
‘‘(3) act in consultation with the Department of 21
Homeland Security with respect to national security 22
and critical infrastructure security in the food and 23
agricultural sector; and 24
‘‘(4) maintain a staff of attorneys and other 25
professionals with appropriate expertise. 26
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‘‘(d) PROSECUTORIAL AUTHORITY.—Notwith-1
standing title 28, United States Code, the Special Investi-2
gator shall have the authority to bring any civil or admin-3
istrative action authorized under this Act.’’. 4
Æ
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