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IV
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 602
Commending the cooperative business model and the businesses, employees,
and practitioners nationally and internationally who use it for their
contributions to the economy and social impacts they make on their
communities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 26, 2019
Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
RESOLUTION
Commending the cooperative business model and the busi-
nesses, employees, and practitioners nationally and inter-
nationally who use it for their contributions to the econ-
omy and social impacts they make on their communities.
Whereas cooperatives are member-owned businesses, owned
and governed by the people that use the business, create
its products, or manage its operations, and operate under
the 7 agreed upon principles ofâ
(1) voluntary open membership;
(2) democratic control;
(3) owner economic participation;
(4) autonomy and independence;
(5) education, training, and information;
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â˘HRES 602 IH
(6) cooperation among cooperatives; and
(7) concern for community;
Whereas cooperative entrepreneurs are often categorized into
4 variations of the business modelâconsumer, producer,
purchasing, and worker cooperativesâand can be found
in almost every economic sector in the United States,
throughout all 50 States and territories, and every con-
gressional district in the United States;
Whereas internationally the principles of cooperation and the
cooperative business model help smallholder farmers or-
ganize themselves and gain access to local and global
markets, training, improved inputs, and aggregated sales
and marketing;
Whereas this provides farmers ownership over their economic
decisions, a focus on learning, and a broader under-
standing of environmental and social concerns;
Whereas cooperatives help farmers increase incomes and be-
come more resilient to shocks and stresses by working to-
gether to plan and prepare for the future;
Whereas cooperative values stress self-help, diversity, and in-
clusion of vulnerable groups to ensure access to women
and youth;
Whereas annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and
Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropria-
tion bills fund the sole domestic program dedicated to co-
operative development to improve the economic condition
of rural areas within the United States Department of
Agriculture Rural Business-Cooperative Services under
the Rural Cooperative Development Grant program, and
grantee organizations use funding to provide technical as-
sistance to cooperatively owned businesses;
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â˘HRES 602 IH
Whereas the Global Food Security Act identified cooperatives
among key stakeholders who are actors engaged in efforts
to advance global food security programs;
Whereas annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and
Drug Administration, and Related Agencies and State
and Foreign Operations appropriation bills fund titles
and programs within the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development and the Department of Agriculture
under Development Assistance, Feed the Future, Food
for Peace Title II, and the Cooperative Development Pro-
gram, and grantee organizations use funding to advance
international development using cooperative principles
and the cooperative model;
Whereas Federal legislation authorized a cooperative research
program with academic institutions to conduct research
on the effects of all types of cooperatives on the national
economy as part of the 2008 farm bill;
Whereas an Interagency Working Group on Cooperative De-
velopment was established in the Agricultural Act of
2014 and authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to co-
ordinate and chair an interagency working group to fos-
ter cooperative development and ensure coordination with
Federal agencies and national and local cooperative orga-
nizations that have cooperative programs and interests,
and has organized four meetings thus far;
Whereas a bipartisan Congressional Cooperative Business
Caucus unites Members of Congress in a cause to create
a better informed electorate and a more educated public
on the important role that cooperatives play in the na-
tional and international economy, to promote the cooper-
ative business model because it ensures consumers have
access to high-quality goods and services at competitive
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â˘HRES 602 IH
prices and costs that better the lives of individuals, fami-
lies, and their communities, and to address and correct
awareness challenges among the public and within the
Government on what a co-op looks like, who are co-ops,
where are co-ops, and why do people choose them;
Whereas, the Census Bureau, as part of its 2017 Economic
Census, included a question in its survey of all businesses
asking if the business is organized as a cooperative which
will yield both quantitative and qualitative data on the ef-
fects and importance of cooperatives across the American
economy;
Whereas the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
completed a research study in 2009, entitled, ââResearch
on the Economic Impacts of Cooperativesââ, wherein they
built a comprehensive list of all United States coopera-
tives, gathered economic data from cooperatives, analyzed
the direct and indirect economic impacts of cooperatives,
and developed approaches for measuring the unique eco-
nomic and social impacts of cooperatives;
Whereas, in 2017, the University of Wisconsin Center for Co-
operatives found that there were 64,017 cooperatives in
the United States operating in the commercial sales,
marketing and production, financial services, social and
public services, and utilities sectors;
Whereas in the utility services sector, utility cooperatives are
tasked with the delivery of public services such as elec-
tricity, water, telecommunications, and broadband, main-
ly throughout the rural United States, where investor-
owned utility companies typically do not operate due to
low profitability;
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Whereas in the financial services sector, cooperatives includ-
ing credit unions, farm credit banks, and financing orga-
nizations that lend to cooperatives ensure that all revenue
is funneled back into the business to lower interest rates
and provide other benefits to its member-owners;
Whereas in the insurance sector, the first cooperative was a
mutual insurance company founded in 1752 by Benjamin
Franklin;
Whereas with no stockholders, policyholders vote in board
elections and profits earned are cycled back into cost sav-
ing programs or returned as dividend payments;
Whereas in purchasing and shared-service cooperatives, inde-
pendent and franchise businesses who rely on them
thrive;
Whereas in the agriculture sector, cooperatives account for a
significant portion of the economic activity in the United
States agriculture and food markets;
Whereas these producer cooperatives collectively help farmers
buy required supplies and services to operate their indi-
vidual farms and help more efficiently market their raw
or processed products more than if they performed these
duties individually;
Whereas food cooperatives range in size from small, local
buying clubs to multistore regional giants that go head-
to-head with national chain stores;
Whereas in the housing sector, housing cooperatives and resi-
dent-owned communities are an alternative to conven-
tional rental apartments, mobile home parks, and con-
dominiums;
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Whereas a housing cooperative owns the building or land and
empowers each resident with ownership and responsi-
bility;
Whereas housing cooperatives have roots dating to the late
1800s and today are mostly concentrated in major cities
like New York City, Chicago, and the District of Colum-
bia, and increasingly are becoming an alternative for stu-
dents at colleges throughout the United States;
Whereas cooperatives allow residents of mobile home parks to
collectively purchase the land they live on, providing sta-
bility and the opportunity to self-govern;
Whereas, as of 2018, at least 220 mobile home communities
have converted to a resident-owned model;
Whereas in worker cooperatives, members both perform the
work and govern the business;
Whereas in recent years, many businesses are choosing to
structure this way so that workers have greater control
over the business in which they work and own;
Whereas many sole proprietor, partnership, or family busi-
nesses are converting to worker-owned cooperatives when
faced with a potential closure or buyout;
Whereas cooperatives have the potential to ease the impend-
ing problem of baby boomer small business owners retir-
ing by transitioning employee-owned or consumer-owned
cooperatives rather than closing the business when the
owner retires;
Whereas cooperatives are a proven strategy in helping people
build a more inclusive economy that is more equitable,
participatory, growing, sustainable, and stable; and
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â˘HRES 602 IH
Whereas the national apex organization representing people
and organizations that use the cooperative business
model to build a better world, the National Cooperative
Business Association CLUSA International, celebrated its
100th anniversary in 2016: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representativesâ
1
(1) commends the cooperative business model
2
for its contributions to the Nationâs and the worldâs
3
economy, the jobs it creates, and its social impacts
4
on the communities in which they operate;
5
(2) expresses its confidence in and support for
6
cooperatives toward continuing their successes;
7
(3) will seek to enact legislation ensuring that
8
cooperatives wonât be adversely affected;
9
(4) will be mindful in crafting legislation affect-
10
ing other business models so that the legislation does
11
not adversely affect the cooperative business modelâs
12
competitive position; and
13
(5) will seek to enact legislation studying, sup-
14
porting, encouraging, and promoting the use of the
15
cooperative business model across all policy areas
16
that can be an additional alternative toward helping
17
solve a number of the Nationâs and the worldâs pol-
18
icy issues and concerns.
19
Ă
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