Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4103 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 23, 2021 Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 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 and Poultry Spe- 4 cial Investigator Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR COM- 6 PETITION MATTERS. 7 The Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, is amended 8 by inserting after section 415 (7 U.S.C. 228d) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4103.IH H4103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4103 IH ‘‘SEC. 416. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR 1 COMPETITION MATTERS. 2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 3 the Packers and Stockyards Division of the Department 4 of Agriculture an office, to be known as the ‘Office of the 5 Special Investigator for Competition Matters’ (referred to 6 in this section as the ‘Office’). 7 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR COMPETITION 8 MATTERS.—The Office shall be headed by the Special In- 9 vestigator for Competition Matters (referred to in this sec- 10 tion as the ‘Special Investigator’), who shall be appointed 11 by the Secretary. 12 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Special Investigator shall— 13 ‘‘(1) use all available tools, including subpoenas, 14 to investigate and prosecute violations of this Act; 15 ‘‘(2) serve as a Department of Agriculture liai- 16 son to, and act in consultation with, the Department 17 of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission with 18 respect to competition and trade practices in the 19 food and agricultural sector; 20 ‘‘(3) act in consultation with the Department of 21 Homeland Security with respect to national security 22 and critical infrastructure security in the food and 23 agricultural sector; and 24 ‘‘(4) maintain a staff of attorneys and other 25 professionals with appropriate expertise. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4103.IH H4103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4103 IH ‘‘(d) PROSECUTORIAL AUTHORITY.—Notwith- 1 standing title 28, United States Code, the Special Investi- 2 gator shall have the authority to bring any civil or admin- 3 istrative action authorized under this Act.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4103.IH H4103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS