SB 108-13: Tea And Oranges Act (Passed)

[WD]

AN ACT
To protect Atlasian food safety and security in the light of contemporary threats

Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled,

SECTION 1: WELL IT GOES LIKE THIS

1. This Act may be cited as the Taking Earlier Acts AND Officializing Reports About National, Global, and Epidemiological Security (TEA AND ORANGES) Act.


SECTION 2: THE FOURTH, THE FIFTH

1. Section 5, subsection c, paragraph 1 of the Food and Agricultural Merger Act of 2019 (or “FAM Act”) shall be modified as follows:

(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission (non-playable) shall be composed of 12 members as follows:

(A) ThreeSix persons, onetwo of whom shall be a persons currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(B) ThreeSix persons, onetwo of whom shall be a persons currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(C) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(D) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

2. Pursuant to §5(d)(2) of the FAM Act, vacancies in the Commission shall be filled in accordance with the amended section effective immediately following the passage and signing of this Act.


SECTION 3: THE MINOR F.A.L.L. (Formal Amendment of Lateral Limitations)

1. Section 6(b) of the FAM Act shall be modified as follows:

(13) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.

(13) The effects of concentration and related developments on food wastage, spoiling, and other associated phenomena.

(14) The impact of foreign purchases of Atlasian operators satisfying any of the definitions in §3 on suppliers, farmers, producers, and consumers.

(15) The effects of these purchases in the context of wider disparities in international trade practices.

(16) The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food, production, and agricultural sectors and the corresponding impact of these immediate and medium-term changes upon consumers.

(17) The feasibility of safe handling, packaging, and transportation of food products by producers and suppliers.

(18 ) Food safety and nutrition.

(19) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.

SECTION 4: AND THE MAJOR LIFT

1. The following shall be added to Section 6 of the FAM Act:

(d) Report on COVID-19. —

   (1) Not later than 6 months after the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a preliminary report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food and agricultural sectors, containing—

      (A) the findings related to §6(b)(16)-(17); and

      (B) recommendations for addressing problems identified therein.

   (2) Any member of the Commission may submit additional findings and recommendations as part of the report.

(e) Report on National and Global Food Security. —

   (1) Not later than 12 months after the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President, Congress, and the Secretary of State a report on the repercussions of foreign purchases of Atlasian food companies, containing—

      (A) the findings related to §6(b)(14)-(15); and

      (B) recommendations for addressing problems identified therein.

   (2) Any member of the Commission may submit additional findings and recommendations as part of the final report.

2. The following shall be added to Section 7 of the FAM Act:

(c) Recommendations. — Policy recommendations made by the Committee, in accordance with §6(d)-(e) or otherwise, shall immediately be made available to the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

SECTION 5: THE BAFFLED KING ENACTING HALLELUJAH

1. This act shall take effect within 60 days following its passage and signing.

Sponsor: Joseph Cao

The gentleman from Illinois is recognized

[Joseph Cao]

Back in 2019 we passed a bill to look into the issue of mergers and acquisitions in the food and agricultural industries, especially those potentially unfair or counterproductive to taxpayers, smaller businesses, and so on. It was accompanied by a moratorium on such mergers which expired in June 2020. I am not certain that mergers were the biggest thing on our minds just then, so it was presumably not renewed. But the original committee is still going, and for all we know it's been sitting around with nothing much to do since then and we can't have taxpayer money go down the drain like that. Therefore, since they are still there, and we just had some extremely loud wake-up calls about certain aspects of our food and agricultural sectors which need more thorough examination, this bill gives them some things to look into which were overlooked last time.

The main immediacy is how COVID (with regard to all the mergers that have occurred) has revealed weak points in the supply chain, placed strain on smaller operators, et cetera et cetera. There are multiple sub-industries that were affected and had their own problems to deal with. For some reason the committee when established didn't have any obligations beyond simple fact-finding, not even with reporting found facts to anyone else, so now they get to submit a nice report with all relevant previously found facts and any new COVID-related information they picked up in the last two years for everyone to take a look at. Given the breadth of their previous authorization they should be quite well-placed to do the job.

The other main thing is national food security, particularly the increasing trend of mergers and purchases of Atlasian operators by other nations of which the most notable has been China's interest in acquiring companies like Smithfield, which itself had consequences for the COVID situation fairly recently. They're detrimental to our own domestic situation with foods and supplies, have for a long time contributed to trade imbalances, and more than that there is an element of national security to consider when substantial parts of our domestically produced food supply are shipped abroad with little to no input from anyone apart from the parties involved. So we have another report due on that, plus some measures for greater transparency regarding the information collected.

I also updated part of the bill's language to take into account the change from the Fourth to the Fifth Constitutions with regard to the defunct house of Congress.

[Joseph Cao]

It’s lonely in here – anything anyone wants to add?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The composition in section one references positions that don't exist in game.

[WD]

This is a common sense bill and has my support.

[Joseph Cao]

Minor amendment based on what Yankee pointed out.

AN ACT
To protect Atlasian food safety and security in the light of contemporary threats

Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled,

SECTION 1: WELL IT GOES LIKE THIS

1. This Act may be cited as the Taking Earlier Acts AND Officializing Reports About National, Global, and Epidemiological Security (TEA AND ORANGES) Act.


SECTION 2: THE FOURTH, THE FIFTH

1. Section 5, subsection c, paragraph 1 of the Food and Agricultural Merger Act of 2019 (or “FAM Act”) shall be modified as follows:

(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission (non-playable) shall be composed of 12 members as follows:

(A) ThreeSix persons, onetwo of whom shall be a persons currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(B) ThreeSix persons, onetwo of whom shall be a persons currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(C) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(D) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

2. Pursuant to §5(d)(2) of the FAM Act, vacancies in the Commission shall be filled in accordance with the amended section effective immediately following the passage and signing of this Act.


SECTION 3: THE MINOR F.A.L.L. (Formal Amendment of Lateral Limitations)

1. Section 6(b) of the FAM Act shall be modified as follows:

(13) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.

(13) The effects of concentration and related developments on food wastage, spoiling, and other associated phenomena.

(14) The impact of foreign purchases of Atlasian operators satisfying any of the definitions in §3 on suppliers, farmers, producers, and consumers.

(15) The effects of these purchases in the context of wider disparities in international trade practices.

(16) The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food, production, and agricultural sectors and the corresponding impact of these immediate and medium-term changes upon consumers.

(17) The feasibility of safe handling, packaging, and transportation of food products by producers and suppliers.

(18 ) Food safety and nutrition.

(19) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.

SECTION 4: AND THE MAJOR LIFT

1. The following shall be added to Section 6 of the FAM Act:

(d) Report on COVID-19. —

   (1) Not later than 6 months after the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a preliminary report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food and agricultural sectors, containing—

      (A) the findings related to §6(b)(16)-(17); and

      (B) recommendations for addressing problems identified therein.

   (2) Any member of the Commission may submit additional findings and recommendations as part of the report.

(e) Report on National and Global Food Security. —

   (1) Not later than 12 months after the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President, Congress, and the Secretary of State a report on the repercussions of foreign purchases of Atlasian food companies, containing—

      (A) the findings related to §6(b)(14)-(15); and

      (B) recommendations for addressing problems identified therein.

   (2) Any member of the Commission may submit additional findings and recommendations as part of the final report.

2. The following shall be added to Section 7 of the FAM Act:

(c) Recommendations. — Policy recommendations made by the Committee, in accordance with §6(d)-(e) or otherwise, shall immediately be made available to the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

SECTION 5: THE BAFFLED KING ENACTING HALLELUJAH

1. This act shall take effect within 60 days following its passage and signing.

[Joseph Cao]

Deputy Speaker hat on to notify our C-SPAN viewer of the 24 hours to object, not that anyone will in all likelihood.

[WD]

Amendment is adopted

[WD]

Opening a final vote in 24 hours

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

No Objection

[WD]

A final vote is now open. Please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[WD]

Aye

[Dr. MB]

Aye

[Saint Milei]

abstain

[Mr. Reactionary]

Abstain

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Abstain

[West_Midlander]

Abstain

[Kuumo]

Aye

[Joseph Cao]

Aye.

[beesley]

Aye

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Aye

[Joseph Cao]

By a vote of 6-0-4-8, the bill passes and is sent to the President.

[Joseph Cao]

AN ACT
To protect Atlasian food safety and security in the light of contemporary threats

Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled,

SECTION 1: WELL IT GOES LIKE THIS

1. This Act may be cited as the Taking Earlier Acts AND Officializing Reports About National, Global, and Epidemiological Security (TEA AND ORANGES) Act.


SECTION 2: THE FOURTH, THE FIFTH

1. Section 5, subsection c, paragraph 1 of the Food and Agricultural Merger Act of 2019 (or “FAM Act”) shall be modified as follows:

(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission (non-playable) shall be composed of 12 members as follows:

(A) ThreeSix persons, onetwo of whom shall be a persons currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(B) ThreeSix persons, onetwo of whom shall be a persons currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(C) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(D) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

2. Pursuant to §5(d)(2) of the FAM Act, vacancies in the Commission shall be filled in accordance with the amended section effective immediately following the passage and signing of this Act.


SECTION 3: THE MINOR F.A.L.L. (Formal Amendment of Lateral Limitations)

1. Section 6(b) of the FAM Act shall be modified as follows:

(13) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.

(13) The effects of concentration and related developments on food wastage, spoiling, and other associated phenomena.

(14) The impact of foreign purchases of Atlasian operators satisfying any of the definitions in §3 on suppliers, farmers, producers, and consumers.

(15) The effects of these purchases in the context of wider disparities in international trade practices.

(16) The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food, production, and agricultural sectors and the corresponding impact of these immediate and medium-term changes upon consumers.

(17) The feasibility of safe handling, packaging, and transportation of food products by producers and suppliers.

(18 ) Food safety and nutrition.

(19) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.

SECTION 4: AND THE MAJOR LIFT

1. The following shall be added to Section 6 of the FAM Act:

(d) Report on COVID-19. —

   (1) Not later than 6 months after the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a preliminary report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food and agricultural sectors, containing—

      (A) the findings related to §6(b)(16)-(17); and

      (B) recommendations for addressing problems identified therein.

   (2) Any member of the Commission may submit additional findings and recommendations as part of the report.

(e) Report on National and Global Food Security. —

   (1) Not later than 12 months after the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President, Congress, and the Secretary of State a report on the repercussions of foreign purchases of Atlasian food companies, containing—

      (A) the findings related to §6(b)(14)-(15); and

      (B) recommendations for addressing problems identified therein.

   (2) Any member of the Commission may submit additional findings and recommendations as part of the final report.

2. The following shall be added to Section 7 of the FAM Act:

(c) Recommendations. — Policy recommendations made by the Committee, in accordance with §6(d)-(e) or otherwise, shall immediately be made available to the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

SECTION 5: THE BAFFLED KING ENACTING HALLELUJAH

1. This act shall take effect within 60 days following its passage and signing.

Passed 6-0-4-8 in the Atlasian Senate assembled,


Joseph Cao, acting president pro tempore