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Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions - S. 1644

Date: Sept. 23, 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Agriculture and Food

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. GRASSLEY:

S. 1644. A bill to amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to limit the number of packer-owned swine that certain packers may slaughter in any calendar year; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation which will set a ceiling on vertical integration in the pork industry. Specifically, this bill will make it unlawful for any packer with an annual slaughter capacity of more than 20 million swine to slaughter more than 10 million packer-owned swine in any calendar year.

I am offering this because I believe the pork industry is at a critical juncture due to the impending sale of Farmland's pork division.

Either we stop the trend toward vertical integration, or we prepare for the inevitable "chicken-ization" of the pork industry.

It is vital that we sustain a place in the market for the independent pork producer. This legislation will at least limit the cancerous growth of vertical integration until we can pass a cure.

I ask unanimous consent the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

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