If the Senator from California will permit the Chair to make a statement, the Chair believes that under the unanimous-consent agreement it will be necessary to act upon paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) before the amendment of the Senator from California would be in order.
Mr. McNARY. That was the parliamentary inquiry I was about to propound.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, paragraph (a) will be considered as having been agreed to.
Without objection, paragraph (b) will be considered as having been agreed to.
Without objection, paragraph (c) will be considered as having been agreed to.
The Senator from California is recognized.
Mr. McADOO. Mr. President, paragraph (d) reads as follows:
(d) It is hereby declared to be the policy and the purpose or the United States to encourage the annual production of an ample supply of cotton of suitable grade and staple to supply all domestic and foreign consumption or such cotton and in addition thereto to maintain at all times a large enough surplus to meet all offers from all sources to buy American cotton at fair and reasonable prices, and never in excess of the world-market price for cotton of similar quality.
My amendment proposes to strike out the last part of the paragraph, reading as follows:
And never in excess of the world-market price !or cotton of similar quality.
I think it is entirely superfluous to make such a declaration. I can see no necessity for it; and I think, upon reflection, it will be clear to anyone that it would be useless for the Congress of the United States to commit itself to any such declaration. I spoke to the Senator from Alabama [Mr. Bankhead] about the amendment, and I hope he will accept it.
Mr. BANKHEAD. Mr. President, I have no objection to accepting the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment offered by the Senator from California to the committee amendment, on line 23, page 32.
The amendment to the amendment was agreed to.
Mr. CONNALLY. Mr. President, I desire to ask the Senator from Alabama [Mr. Bankhead] a question. It seems to me that the declaration here is a little inconsistent.
The committee amendment reads:
It is hereby declared to be the policy and the purpose of the United States to encourage the annual production of an ample supply of cotton of suitable grade and staple to supply all domestic and foreign consumption of such cotton—
We are not trying to do that. If we were, we would not restrict the production of cotton at all, because we do not produce enough for the world.
Mr. BANKHEAD. That means, of course, that we are prepared to supply the demand for all of our cotton that anybody wants to buy. We have always had all the cotton anybody in the world wanted to buy, and it is the policy of the United States to continue that course—to have plenty of cotton, so that those who have the money can buy it. In other words, it is not our intention to restrict the supply. If foreign countries want more cotton, they can get it. We propose to have plenty of cotton for them at all times.
Mr. CONNALLY. For "all domestic and foreign consumption"?
Mr. BANKHEAD. Of American cotton; yes.
Mr. CONNALLY. Of course.
Mr. BANKHEAD. "Of such cotton."
Mr. CONNALLY. The amendment is not drafted in that way.
Mr. BANKHEAD. That is the meaning of it.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the paragraph as amended will be considered as agreed to.
Mr. BANKHEAD. Mr. President, I have a committee amendment perfecting paragraph 31 (a).
The PRESIDING OFFICER. That point has not yet been reached.
Mr. BANKHEAD. Very well.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the next amendment of the committee.
The Chief Clerk. At the top of page 33 it is proposed to insert the following:
Thirty-five percent of a normal year's domestic consumption and exports is a reasonable carry-over at the end or each marketing year. That amount or cotton carried over, based upon many years of experience, is held to be an adequate ever-normal warehouse supply for the protection of interstate commerce and of consumers of American cotton, domestic and foreign, against drought, excessive rainfall, insects, war, or other national emergency.
The amendment was agreed to.
The next amendment was, on page 33, after line 8, to insert:
Sec. 31. (a) Prior to the 15th day or November of each year the Secretary shall find the probable carry-over of cotton as of the beginning of the approaching marketing year and shall also find the probable domestic consumption of American cotton, and also the probable exports of American cotton during such marketing year.
Mr. BANKHEAD. I now offer the amendment which I send to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment will be stated.
The Chief Clerk. On page 33, after line 14, it is proposed to insert the following proviso:
Provided, That for the crop year 1937-38 the Secretary shall make all of the findings, determinations, and proclamations provided for in this section within 10 days after the approval of this act.
Mr. BANKHEAD. Mr. President, this is a committee amendment offered because, while the section provides for a referendum for the crop year 1937-38, it fails to require the Secretary to do these various other things.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment of the Senator from Alabama to the amendment of the committee.
The amendment to the amendment was agreed to.
The amendment as amended was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the next amendment of the committee.
The next amendment of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry was, on page 33, after line 14, to insert:
The Secretary shall also determine and specify the national marketing quota of cotton that may be marketed in interstate or foreign commerce during the succeeding marketing year.
The amendment was agreed to.
The next amendment was, on page 33, after line 18, to insert the following:
The Secretary shall, immediately after making the aforesaid findings, proclaim that beginning on the first of the marketing year next following and continuing throughout such year, a national marketing quota shall be in effect for the crop harvested during such marketing year: Provided, however, That within 30 days after the approval of this act and thereafter not later than December 15 of 1938 and of each subsequent year the Secretary shall conduct a referendum of the farmers who would be subject to the national marketing quota for cotton to determine whether such farmers are in favor of or opposed to such quota. If more than one-third of the farmers voting in the referendum oppose such quota, the Secretary shall, within 15 days after the first referendum under this section and prior to the 1st day of the following January in case of any subsequent referendums, announce the result of the referendum and such quota shall not become effective.
Mr. McNARY. Mr. President, did not the House vote upon the quota as applied to cotton?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is the Senator addressing the question to the Chair?
Mr. McNARY. I thought the Chair might be advised. If not, I address the question to the Senator from Alabama.
Mr. BANKHEAD. Mr. President, I could not inform the Senator. I do not think it makes any difference. It does not bind us. I have not had time to keep up with what the House has been doing.
Mr. BARKLEY. Mr. President, the House did vote, by viva voce vote in Committee of the Whole and by a very narrow margin, to change the provisions of the text of the House bill, but that matter cannot be determined, so far as the House itself is concerned, until the bill goes back to the House and they have a vote, at which time the proponents
