| 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. 1648 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to amend certain regulations to clarify |
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| 6 | 6 | | that livestock auction owners may have an interest in small meatpacking |
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| 7 | 7 | | businesses, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY27, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. A |
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| 11 | 11 | | LFORD(for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. JOHNSONof South Dakota, Mr. |
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| 12 | 12 | | R |
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| 13 | 13 | | OUZER, Mr. GRAVES, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. VASQUEZ, Mr. SMITHof Ne- |
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| 14 | 14 | | braska, Mr. D |
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| 15 | 15 | | AVISof North Carolina, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. FINSTAD, and |
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| 16 | 16 | | Mr. M |
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| 17 | 17 | | OOREof Alabama) introduced the following bill; which was referred |
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| 18 | 18 | | to the Committee on Agriculture |
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| 19 | 19 | | A BILL |
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| 20 | 20 | | To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to amend certain |
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| 21 | 21 | | regulations to clarify that livestock auction owners may |
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| 22 | 22 | | have an interest in small meatpacking businesses, and |
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| 23 | 23 | | for other purposes. |
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| 24 | 24 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amplifying Processing 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | of Livestock in the United States Act’’ or the ‘‘A–PLUS 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | Act’’. 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1648.IH H1648 |
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| 31 | 31 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | •HR 1648 IH |
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| 33 | 33 | | SEC. 2. AMPLIFYING PROCESSING OF LIVESTOCK IN THE 1 |
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| 34 | 34 | | UNITED STATES (A- PLUS). 2 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (a) I |
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| 36 | 36 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 3 |
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| 37 | 37 | | date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise 4 |
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| 38 | 38 | | section 201.67 of title 9, Code of Federal Regulations, as 5 |
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| 39 | 39 | | in effect on January 1, 2025, to specify that— 6 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (1) market agencies may have an ownership in-7 |
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| 41 | 41 | | terest in, finance, or participate in the management 8 |
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| 42 | 42 | | or operation of, a packer, so long as such packer— 9 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (A) with respect to cattle and sheep, has a 10 |
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| 44 | 44 | | cumulative slaughter capacity of less than— 11 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (i) 2,000 animals per day; or 12 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (ii) 700,000 animals per year; and 13 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (B) with respect to hogs, has a cumulative 14 |
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| 48 | 48 | | slaughter capacity of less than— 15 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (i) 10,000 animals per day; or 16 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (ii) 3,000,000 animals per year; and 17 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (2) market agencies that have an ownership in-18 |
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| 52 | 52 | | terest in, finance, or participate in the management 19 |
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| 53 | 53 | | or operation of, a packer shall disclose to sellers of 20 |
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| 54 | 54 | | livestock the existence of such ownership interest, fi-21 |
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| 55 | 55 | | nancial relationship, or participation. 22 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (b) S |
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| 57 | 57 | | AVINGSCLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 23 |
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| 58 | 58 | | be interpreted as a limitation on the authority of the Sec-24 |
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| 59 | 59 | | retary to adopt or enforce rules or regulations under the 25 |
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| 60 | 60 | | Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) 26 |
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| 61 | 61 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1648.IH H1648 |
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| 62 | 62 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •HR 1648 IH |
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| 64 | 64 | | related to the protection of producers, competition, market 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | integrity, or the prevention of conflicts of interest. 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | Æ |
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| 67 | 67 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1648.IH H1648 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
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