Food Bank Act
Latest action. Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.
Food Bank Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a separate reserve of inventories of corn, grain sorghum, barley, and oats, wheat, and soybeans. Declares that such reserve inventories shall include not more than the following quantities: (1) three hundred million bushels of wheat, (2) twenty-five million tons of feed grains, (of which not less than 80 percent shall be in corn) and (3) one hundred million bushels of soybeans. Provides for the maximum price the Secretary shall pay for the commodities and the net additional quantity procured under this Act. Prescribes the priorities by which the acquisition shall be made to increase the reserve of stocks or to rotate the stocks of any commodity. Specifies the circumstances under which the Secretary is also authorized to dispose of commodities in such reserve, including: (1) for use in relieving distress in any State, declared by the President to be an acute distress area because of unemployment or other economic cause, and in connection with any major disaster; (2) for use in connection with a state of civil defense emergency; (3) for use in the preservation and maintenance of foundation herds of cattle, sheep, and goats; and (4) for use by the President to meet famine or other urgent or extraordinary relief requirements in friendly foreign countries. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on December 19, 1973. 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 December 19, 1973: Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 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?
RICHARD CLARK (D-IA) introduced it on December 19, 1973. 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 December 19, 1973, 19258 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19258 days ago, on December 19, 1973.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers