II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1312
To establish the Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters
within the Department of Agriculture.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL7, 2025
Mr. W
YDEN(for himself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr.
S
CHIFF, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr.
H
OEVEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To establish the Office of the Special Investigator for
Competition Matters within the Department of Agriculture.
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 of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR COM-1
PETITION MATTERS. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Department of Agriculture 3
Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by inserting after 4
section 216 (7 U.S.C. 6916) the following: 5
‘‘SEC. 217. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR 6
COMPETITION MATTERS. 7
‘‘(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 8
Department an office, to be known as the ‘Office of the 9
Special Investigator for Competition Matters’ (referred to 10
in this section as the ‘Office’). 11
‘‘(b) S
PECIALINVESTIGATOR FOR COMPETITION 12
M
ATTERS.—The Office shall be headed by the Special In-13
vestigator for Competition Matters (referred to in this sec-14
tion as the ‘Special Investigator’), who shall be a senior 15
career employee appointed by the Secretary. 16
‘‘(c) D
UTIES.—The Special Investigator shall— 17
‘‘(1) use all available tools, including subpoenas, 18
to investigate and prosecute violations of the Pack-19
ers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et 20
seq.), by packers and live poultry dealers with re-21
spect to competition and trade practices in the food 22
and agriculture sector; 23
‘‘(2) serve as a Department liaison to, and act 24
in consultation with, the Department of Justice and 25
the Federal Trade Commission with respect to com-26
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•S 1312 IS
petition and trade practices in the food and agricul-1
tural sector; 2
‘‘(3) act in consultation with the Department of 3
Homeland Security with respect to national security 4
and critical infrastructure security in the food and 5
agricultural sector; 6
‘‘(4) maintain a staff of attorneys and other 7
professionals with appropriate expertise; and 8
‘‘(5) in carrying out paragraphs (1) through 9
(4), coordinate with the Office of the General Coun-10
sel and the Packers and Stockyards Division of the 11
Agricultural Marketing Service. 12
‘‘(d) P
ROSECUTORIALAUTHORITY.— 13
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding title 28, 14
United States Code, the Special Investigator shall 15
have the authority to bring any civil or administra-16
tive action authorized under the Packers and Stock-17
yards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), against a 18
packer or a live poultry dealer. 19
‘‘(2) N
OTIFICATION.—With respect to any ac-20
tion brought under this section in Federal district 21
court, the Special Investigator shall notify the Attor-22
ney General. 23
‘‘(3) E
FFECT.—Nothing in this section alters 24
the authority of the Secretary to issue a subpoena 25
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pursuant to the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 1
(7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 2
‘‘(e) L
IMITATION ONSCOPE.—The Special Investi-3
gator may not bring an action under this section with re-4
spect to an entity that is not regulated under the Packers 5
and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.).’’. 6
(b) C
ONFORMINGAMENDMENT.—Section 296(b) of 7
the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 8
1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end 9
the following: 10
‘‘(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry 11
out section 217.’’. 12
(c) T
ECHNICALAMENDMENT.—Subtitle A of the De-13
partment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 is 14
amended by redesignating the first section 225 (relating 15
to Food Access Liaison) (7 U.S.C. 6925) as section 224A. 16
Æ
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