Meat Packing Special Investigator Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2036 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 10, 2021 Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Ag- riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 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 Packing Special 4 Investigator Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:05 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2036.IS S2036 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2036 IS SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR COM- 1 PETITION MATTERS. 2 The Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, is amended 3 by inserting after section 210 (7 U.S.C. 197c) the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘SEC. 211. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR 6 COMPETITION MATTERS. 7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 8 the Packers and Stockyards Division of the Department 9 of Agriculture an office, to be known as the ‘Office of the 10 Special Investigator for Competition Matters’ (referred to 11 in this section as the ‘Office’). 12 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR COMPETITION 13 MATTERS.—The Office shall be headed by the Special In- 14 vestigator for Competition Matters (referred to in this sec- 15 tion as the ‘Special Investigator’), who shall be appointed 16 by the Secretary. 17 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Special Investigator shall— 18 ‘‘(1) use all available tools, including subpoenas, 19 to investigate and prosecute violations of this Act by 20 packers; 21 ‘‘(2) serve as a Department of Agriculture liai- 22 son to, and act in consultation with, the Department 23 of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission with 24 respect to competition and trade practices in the 25 food and agricultural sector; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:05 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2036.IS S2036 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2036 IS ‘‘(3) act in consultation with the Department of 1 Homeland Security with respect to national security 2 and critical infrastructure security in the food and 3 agricultural sector; and 4 ‘‘(4) maintain a staff of attorneys and other 5 professionals with appropriate expertise. 6 ‘‘(d) PROSECUTORIAL AUTHORITY.—Notwithstand- 7 ing title 28, United States Code, the Special Investigator 8 shall have the authority to bring any civil or administra- 9 tive action authorized under this Act against a packer.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:05 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2036.IS S2036 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS