Agricultural Trade Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on International Relations.
Agricultural Trade Act - Title I: Establishment of United States Agricultural Trade Offices - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1954 to add a new title authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to establish abroad not less than 25 United States Agricultural Trade Offices to perform duties relating to foreign market development. Enumerates the functions of each Office, including: (1) to increase the effectiveness of agricultural export promotion; (2) to develop listings of commodity area contracts; and (3) to provide assistance for the export credit sales program and the export incentives program. Title II: Intermediate Commercial Credit - Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to finance, under its export credit sales program, export sales of agricultural commodities out of Commodity Credit Corporation and private stocks on credit terms in excess of three but not more than ten years. Exempts such sales from specified provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936. Title III: Reorganization - Establishes in the Department of Agriculture: (1) an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Commodity Programs to perform agricultural stabilization and conservation functions; and (2) an Under Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs to exercise functions related to foreign agriculture. Title IV: Agricultural Counselors - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1954 to redesignate agricultural attaches as agricultural counselors, and to require such counselors to submit annual reports to Congress on the agricultural situation in the area to which the counselor is assigned. Title V: Reporting Requirements for Sales of Agricultural Commodities - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1970 to require rapid reporting to the Secretary of Agriculture of large export sales. Title VI: General Provisions - Requires the Secretary of Agriculture: (1) to implement this Act as expeditiously as possible; and (2) to transmit annual reports to Congress on Department of Agriculture activities including those of Agricultural Trade Offices, in developing foreign markets for United States agricultural commodities.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 10, 1978. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 10, 1978: Referred to House Committee on International Relations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 95th Congress (1977-78), 633 of the 19,387 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
DAVID STOCKMAN (R-MI) introduced it on May 10, 1978. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 10, 1978, 17655 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17655 days ago, on May 10, 1978.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 95th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1979 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers