The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“NDEA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1323 on June 18, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NDEA
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HON. JOHN M. McHUGH
of new york
in the house of representatives
Monday, June 18, 2007
Mr. McHUGH. Madam Speaker, under the NDEA, when the Class I milk price in the Boston market falls below the established minimum price, processors would pay an over-order premium--the difference between the minimum price set by the applicable Regional Dairy Board and the Boston Class I price--into a national fund. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture would then distribute the monies in the fund back to the Boards according to a formula whereby each region would get back the greater of what they pay into the fund or the amount of the over-order payments a region would have generated if it had a Class I utilization rate of 50 percent. In the event of a shortfall, the Secretary would supplement the money in the fund from savings from the MILC program to ensure that the Regional Dairy Boards, and subsequently the dairy farmers themselves, would receive the full payments.
The Regional Dairy Boards would be comprised of three members from each participating state in a particular region. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture would make the nominations to the Boards after receiving nominees put forward by governors or elected state agricultural commissioner after consultation with the dairy industry. Each state delegation to the Regional Dairy Boards would consist of three representatives, with at least one producer and one consumer.
In addition to the responsibility to establish minimum prices and distribute payments to dairy farmers, the Regional Dairy Boards would have the authority to conduct supply management programs when necessary, including the development of incentive-based programs. Moreover, in order to prevent overproduction, regions in which the growth in milk production is higher than the national average would be required to reimburse the U.S. Secretary of Treasury for the cost of government dairy surplus purchases up to the amount that the region is receiving under the NDEA.
It is important to note that the NDEA would not establish national pooling. Rather, it would create an equalization fund whereby processor paid funds would go to a central account at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; government funds would be added to that fund and then payments would be made to the various regions according to a formula, which would permit regions with low Class I utilization to receive the same benefit as those regions with higher utilization.
Also of significance, the NDEA would be entirely optional for the states and individual farmers. Thus, those states that do not wish to participate in the NDEA program could simply choose to continue to participate in the MILC program, which the NDEA would extend to 2012, and individual farmers in states participating in the new NDEA program could instead opt to merely continue receiving payments under their current MILC contract rather than under the NDEA. However, those individuals would not be eligible to extend their MILC contract beyond September 2008 and would lose all future eligibility to participate in the NDEA program.
Madam Speaker, the NDEA would create a market-orientated, counter-
cyclical program to help all of our Nation's dairy farmers while simultaneously saving taxpayers money. Accordingly, I ask my colleagues to join with me to enact this important legislation.
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