Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 3.djvu/778

 102 STAT. 2730

PUBLIC LAW 100-546—OCT. 28, 1988

Public Law 100-546 100th Congress An Act Oct. 28, 1988 [H.R. 5325]

To establish a commission to review and make recommendations for the improvement of the Federal crop insurance program.

Federal Crop

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Insurance Commission Act

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

^^TTo^^; rAo ^ 7 USC 1508 note. 7 USC 1508 note.

This Act may be cited as the "Federal Crop Insurance Commission Act of 1988 ". SEC. 2. FINDINGS, POLICY, AND PURPOSE.

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— (1) the Federal crop insurance program was established to promote the national welfare by improving the economic stability of agriculture through a sound and comprehensive system of nationwide crop insurance that would allow the phasing out of disaster payments programs as part of farm price support and income protection programs; (2) despite recent increases in the acreage covered by Federal crop insurance, the level of farmer participation in the Federal crop insurance program in most agricultural areas is below what the Congress anticipated when the Federal Crop Insurance Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-365) was enacted into law; and (3) low levels of participation in the Federal crop insurance program, from time to time, have contributed to the need to continue disaster payment programs in response to recurring natural disasters that threaten farmers, crop production, and the food supply of the United States. (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress, in order to further the improvement of national farm policy, to determine why the Federal crop insurance program has not developed into a fully effective substitute for ad hoc disaster payment programs. (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure the thorough review of the Federal crop insurance program and the development of recommendations for such changes as are needed to improve the program so as to lessen, if not eliminate, the need for additional disaster payment programs, and thereby reduce the burden such programs impose on the Federal budget while providing to producers of agricultural commodities more equitable, efficient, and predictable protection from natural disasters. 7 USC 1508 note.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

There is hereby established a commission to be known as the Commission for the Improvement of the Federal Crop Insurance Program (in this Act referred to as the "Commission"), which shall review and make recommendations concerning the authorization

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