Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 6.djvu/112

 114 STAT. 3168 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—APR. 13, 2000 (2) while Congress deliberates funding structural Medicare reform and the addition of a prescription drug benefit, it must maintain the continued viability of the current skilled nursing benefit. Therefore, the committees of jurisdiction should ensure that Medicare beneficiaries requiring skilled nursing care have access to that care and that those providers have the resources to meet the expectation for high quality care. SEC. 334. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON VETERANS' MEDICAL CARE. It is the sense of the Senate that the levels in this resolution assume an increase of $1,400,000,000 in veterans' medical care appropriations in fiscal year 2001. SEC. 335. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON IMPACT AID. It is the sense of the Senate that the levels in this resolution assume that the Impact Aid Program strive to reach the goal that all local educational agencies eligible for Impact Aid receive at a minimum, 40 percent of their maximum payment under sections 8002 and 8003. SEC. 336. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON TAX SIMPLIFICATION. It is the sense of the Senate that the levels in this resolution assume that the Joint Committee on Taxation shall develop a report and alternative proposals on tax simplification by the end of the year, and the Department of the Treasury is requested to develop a report and alternative proposals on tax simplification by the end of the year. SEC. 337. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION REGARDING AGRICULTURE MERGERS AND ANTICOMPETITIVE ACTIVITY. It is the sense of the Senate that the levels in this resolution assume that— (1) the Antitrust Division and the Bureau of Competition will have adequate resources to enable them to meet their statutory requirements, including those related to reviewing increasingly numerous and complex mergers and investigating and prosecuting anticompetitive business activity; and (2) these departments will— (A) dedicate considerable resources to matters and transactions dealing with agri-business antitrust and competition; and (B) ensure that all vertical and horizontal mergers implicating agriculture and all complaints regarding possible anticompetitive business practices in the agriculture industry will receive extraordinary scrutiny. SEC. 338. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING FAIR MARKETS FOR AMERICAN FARMERS. It is the sense of the Senate that the levels in this resolution assume that— (1) the United States should take steps to increase support for American farmers in order to level the playing field for United States agricultural producers and increase the leverage of the United States in World Trade Organization negotiations on agriculture as long as such support is not trade distorting.

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