more efficient, and for the disbursement of necessary funds for such purposes.

(e) Providing for authority to accumulate reserve funds from assessments collected pursuant to this title, to permit an effective and continuous coordinated program of research, development, advertising, and promotion in years when the production and assessment income may be reduced: Provided, That the total reserve fund does not exceed the amount budgeted for two years' operation.

(f) Providing for authority to use funds collected herein, with the approval of the Secretary, for the development and expansion of potato and potato product sales in foreign markets.

(g) Terms and conditions incidental to and not inconsistent with the terms and conditions specified in this title and necessary to effectuate the other provisions of such plan.

ASSESSMENTS

SEC. 310. (a) Each handler designated by the board, pursuant to regulations issued under the plan, to make payment of assessments shall be responsible for payment to the board, as it may direct, of any assessment levied on potatoes; and such handler may collect from any producer or deduct from the proceeds paid to any producer, on whose potatoes such assessment is made, any such assessment required to be paid by such handler. Such handler shall maintain a separate record with respect to each producer for whom potatoes were handled, and such records shall indicate the total quantity of potatoes handled by him including those handled for producers and for himself, shall indicate the total quantity of potatoes handled by him which are included under the terms of a plan as well as those which are exempt under such plan, and shall indicate such other information as may be prescribed by the board. To facilitate the collection and payment of such assessments, the board may designate different handlers or classes of handlers to recognize differences in marketing practices or procedures utilized in any State or area. No more than one such assessment shall be made on any potatoes.

(b) Handlers responsible for payment of assessments under subsection (a) of this section shall maintain and make available for inspection by the Secretary such books and records as required by the plan and file reports at the times, in the manner, and having the content prescribed by the plan, to the end that information and data shall be made available to the board and to the Secretary which is appropriate or necessary to the effectuation, administration, or enforcement of this title or of any plan or regulation issued pursuant to this title.

(c) All information obtained pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be kept confidential by all officers and employees of the Department of Agriculture and of the board, and only such information so furnished or acquired as the Secretary deems relevant shall be disclosed by them, and then only in a suit or administrative hearing brought at the direction, or upon the request, of the Secretary, or to which he or any officer of the United States is a party, and involving the plan with reference to which the information to be

7 U.S.C. 2619.

disclosed was furnished or acquired. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit

(1) the issuance of general statements based upon the reports of a number of handlers subject to a plan if such statements do not identify the information furnished by any person, or

(2) the publication by direction of the Secretary of the name of any person violating any plan together with a statement of the particular provisions of the plan violated by such person. Any such officer or employee violating the provisions of this subsection shall upon conviction be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, and shall be removed from office.

PETITION AND REVIEW

SEC. 311.10 (a) Any person subject to a plan may file a written petition with the Secretary, stating that such plan or any provision of such plan or any obligation imposed in connection therewith is not in accordance with law and praying for a modification thereof or to be exempted therefrom. He shall thereupon be given an opportunity for a hearing upon such petition, in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary. After such hearing, the Secretary shall make a ruling upon the prayer of such petition which shall be final, if in accordance with law.

(b) The district courts of the United States in any district in which such person is an inhabitant, or has his principal place of business, are hereby vested with jurisdiction to review such ruling: Provided, That a complaint for that purpose is filed within twenty days from the date of the entry of such ruling. Service of process in such proceedings may be had upon the Secretary by delivering to him a copy of the complaint. If the court determines that such ruling is not in accordance with law, it shall remand such proceedings to the Secretary with directions either (1) to make such ruling as the court shall determine to be in accordance with law, or (2) to take such further proceedings as, in its opinion, the law requires. The pendency of proceedings instituted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall not impede, hinder, or delay the United States or the Secretary from obaining relief pursuant to section 312 (a) of this title.

ENFORCEMENT

SEC. 312.1 (a) The several district courts of the United States are vested with jurisdiction specifically to enforce, and to prevent and restrain any person from violating, any plan or regulation made or issued pursuant to this title.

(b) Any handler who violates any provisions of any plan issued by the Secretary under this title, or who fails or refuses to remit any assessment or fee duly required of him thereunder shall be subject to criminal prosecution and shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 for each such offense.

10 7 U.S.C. 2620. 117 U.S.C. 2621.

INVESTIGATION AND POWER TO SUBPENA

SEC. 313.12 (a) The Secretary may make such investigations as he deems necessary for the effective carrying out of his responsibilities under this title or to determine whether a handler or any other person has engaged or is engaging in any acts or practices which constitute violation of any provision of this title, or of any plan, or rule or regulation issued under this title. For the purpose of any such investigation, the Secretary is empowered to administer oaths and affirmations, subpena witnesses, compel their attendance, take evidence, and require the production of any books, papers, and documents which are relevant to the inquiry. Such attendance of witnesses and the production of any such records may be required from any place in the United States. In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpena issued to, any person, including a handler, the Secretary may invoke the aid of any court of the United States within the jurisdiction of which such investigation or proceeding is carried on, or where such person resides or carries on business, in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents; and such court may issue an order requiring such person to appear before the Secretary, there to produce records, if so ordered, or to give testimony touching the matter under investigation. Any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as contempt thereof. All process in any such case may be served in the judicial district whereof such person is an inhabitant or wherever he may be found. The site of any hearings held under this section shall be within the judicial district where such handler or other person is an inhabitant or has his principal place of business.

(b) No person shall be excused from attending and testifying or from producing books, papers, and documents before the Secretary, or in obedience to the subpena of the Secretary, or in any cause or proceeding, criminal or otherwise, based upon, or growing out of any alleged violation of this title, or of any plan, or rule or regulation issued thereunder on the ground or for the reason that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture; but no individual shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he is compelled, after having claimed his privilege against selfincrimination, to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, except that any individual so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.

REQUIREMENT OF REFERENDUM

SEC. 314.13 The Secretary shall conduct a referendum among producers who, during a representative period determined by the Secretary, have been engaged in the production of potatoes for the purpose of ascertaining whether the issuance of a plan is approved or favored by producers. No plan issued pursuant to this title shall be effective unless the Secretary determines that the issuance of such plan is approved or favored by not less than two-thirds of the producers

12 7 U.S.C. 2622.

13 7 U.S.C. 2623.

voting in such referendum, or by the producers of not less than twothirds of the potatoes produced during the representative period by producers voting in such referendum, and by not less than a majority of the producers voting in such referendum. The ballots and other information or reports which reveal or tend to reveal the vote of any producer or his production of potatoes shall be held strictly confidential and shall not be disclosed. Any officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture violating the provisions hereof shall upon conviction be subject to the penalties provided in paragraph 310(c) above.

SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF PLANS

SEC. 315.14 (a) The Secretary shall, whenever he finds that a plan or any provision thereof obstructs or does not tend to effectuate the declared policy of this title, terminate or suspend the operation of such plan or such provision thereof.

(b) The Secretary may conduct a referendum at any time and shall hold a referendum on request of the board or of 10 per centum or more of the potato producers to determine if potato producers favor the termination or suspension of the plan, and he shall terminate or suspend such plan at the end of the marketing year whenever he determines that such suspension or termination is favored by a majority of those voting in a referendum, and who produce more than 50 per centum of the volume of the potatoes produced by the potato producers voting in the referendum.

AMENDMENT PROCEDURE

SEC. 316.15 The provisions of this title applicable to plans shall be applicable to amendments to plans.

SEPARABILITY

SEC. 317.16 If any provision of this title or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this title and of the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

AUTHORIZATION

SEC. 318.17 There is hereby made available from the funds provided by section 32 of Public Law 320, Seventy-fourth Congress (49 Stat. 774), as amended (7 U.S.C. 612c), such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this title: Provided, That no such sum shall be used or the payment of any expenses or expenditures of the board in administering any provision of any plan issued under authority of this title.

EFFECTIVE DATE

SEC. 319. This title shall take effect upon enactment.

14 7 U.S.C. 2624. 15 7 U.S.C. 2625. 16 7 U.S.C. 2626 177 U.S.C. 2627.

COTTON RESEARCH AND PROMOTION ACT

Act of July 13, 1966, Public Law 89-502, 80 Stat. 279, 7 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.

AN ACT To enable cottongrowers to establish, finance, and carry out a coordinated program of research and promotion to improve the competitive position of, and to expand markets for, cotton

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act shall be known as the Cotton Research and Promotion Act.

LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

SEC. 2. Cotton is the basic natural fiber of the Nation. It is produced by many individual cottongrowers throughout the various cotton-producing States of the Nation. Cotton moves in large part in the channels of interstate and foreign commerce and such cotton which does not move in such channels directly burdens or affects interstate commerce in cotton and cotton products. All cotton produced in the United States is in the current of interstate or foreign commerce or directly burdens, obstructs, or affects interstate or foreign commerce in cotton and cotton products. The efficient production of cotton and the maintenance and expansion of existing markets and the development of new or improved markets and uses is vital to the welfare of cottongrowers and those concerned with marketing, using, and processing cotton as well as the general economy of the Nation. In the years since World War II, United States cotton and the products thereof have been confronted with intensive competition, both at home and abroad, from foreign-grown cotton and from other fibers, primarily manmade fibers. The great inroads on the market and uses for United States cotton which have been made by manmade fibers have been largely the result of extensive research and promotion which have not been effectively matched by cotton research and promotion. The production and marketing of cotton by numerous individual farmers have prevented the development and carrying out of adequate and coordinated programs of research and promotion necessary to the maintenance and improvement of the competitive position of, and markets for, cotton. Without an effective and coordinated method for assuring cooperative and collective action in providing for, and financing such programs, individual cotton farmers are unable adequately to provide or obtain the research and promotion necessary to maintain and improve markets for cotton.

It has long been found to be in the public interest to have, or endeavor to have, a reasonable balance between the supply of and demand for cotton grown in this country. To serve this public interest the Congress has provided for the comprehensive exercise of regulatory authority in regulating the handling of such cotton supplemented by