Provided, however, That the primary consideration in determining the eligibility of an organization shall be whether its cotton farmer membership consists of a sufficiently large number of the cotton producers who produce a relatively significant volume of cotton to reasonably warrant its participation in the nomination of members for the Cotton Board. The Secretary shall certify any cotton producer organization which he finds to be eligible under this section, and his determination as to eligibility shall be final. (7 U.S.C. 2113.)

REGULATIONS

SEC. 15. The Secretary is authorized to make such regulations with the force and effect of law, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act and the powers vested in him by this Act. (7 U.S.C. 2114.)

INVESTIGATIONS: POWER TO SUBPENA AND TAKE OATHS AND
AFFIRMATIONS: AID OF COURTS

SEC. 16.5 The Secretary may make such investigations as he deems necessary for the effective carrying out of his responsibilites under this Act or to determine whether a handler or any other person has engaged or is about to engage in any acts or practices which constitute or will constitute a violation of any provision of this Act, or of any order, or rule or regulation issued under this Act. 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 a 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. (7 U.S.C. 2115.)

SEC. 17. As used in this Act.

DEFINITIONS

(a) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture.

5 The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, P.L. 91-452, 84 Stat. 929, amended Section 16 of the Cotton Research and Promotion Act by striking "(a)" and by striking subsection (b) regarding appearance of witnesses. See Part IV of this Compilation for provisions on immunity of witnesses.

(b) The term "person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or any other entity.

(c) The term "cotton" means all upland cotton harvested in the United States, and, except as used in section 7(e), includes cottonseed of such cotton and the products derived from such cotton and its seed.

(d) The term "handler" means any person who handles cotton or cottonseed in the manner specified in the order or in the rules and regulations issued thereunder.

(e) The term "United States" means the 50 States of the United States of America.

(f) The term "cotton-producing State" means any State in which the average annual production of cotton during the five years 1960–1964 was twenty thousand bales or more, except that any State producing cotton whose production during such period was less than such amount shall under regulations prescribed by the Secretary be combined with another State or States producing cotton in such manner that such an average annual production of such combination of States totaled twenty thousand bales or more, and the term "cotton-producing State" shall include any such combination of States.

(g) The term "marketing" includes the sale of cotton or the pledging of cotton to the Commodity Credit Corporation as collateral for a price support loan. (7 U.S.C. 2116.)

SEPARABILITY

SEC. 18. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and of the application of such provisions to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby. (7 U.S.C. 2117.)

AUTHORIZATION

SEC. 19. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated such funds as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. The funds so appropriated shall not be available for the payment of the expenses or expenditures of the Cotton Board in administering any provisions of any order issued pursuant to the terms of this Act. (7 U.S.C. 2118.)

EFFECTIVE DATE

SEC. 20. This Act shall take effect upon enactment. (7 U.S.C. 2101 note.)

COTTON STATISTICS AND ESTIMATES ACT OF 19271

(7 U.S.C. 471-476)

AN ACT Authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to collect and publish statistics of the grade and staple length of cotton

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Agriculture be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to collect and publish annually, on dates to be announced by him, statistics or estimates concerning the grades and staple length of stocks of cotton, known as the carry-over, on hand on the 1st of August of each year in warehouses and other establishments of every character in the continental United States; and following such publication each year, to publish, at intervals in his discretion, his estimate of the grades and staple length of cotton of the then current crop: Provided, That not less than three such estimates shall be published with respect to each crop. In any such statistics or estimates published, the cotton which on the date for which such statistics are published may be recognized as tenderable on contracts of sale of cotton for future delivery under the United States Cotton Futures Act of August 11, 1916, as amended, shall be stated separately from that which may be untenderable under said Act as amended. (7 U.S.C. 471.)

SEC 2. That the information furnished by any individual establishment under the provisions of this Act shall be considered as strictly confidential and shall be used only for the statistical purpose for which it is supplied. Any employee of the Department of Agriculture who, without the written authority of the Secretary of Agriculture, shall publish or communicate any information given into his possession by reason of his employment under the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than $300 or more than $1,000, or imprisoned for a period of not exceeding one year, or both so fined and imprisoned, at the discretion of the court. (7 U.S.C. 472.)

SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of every owner, president, treasurer, secretary, director, or other officer or agent of any cotton warehouse, cotton ginnery, cotton mill, or other place or establishment where cotton is stored, whether conducted as a corporation, firm, limited partnership, or individual, and of any owner or holder of any cotton and of the agents and representatives of any such owner or holder, when requested by the Secretary of Agriculture or by any special agent or other employee of the Department of Agriculture acting under the instructions of said Secretary to furnish completely and correctly, to the best of his knowledge, all of

1 Act of March 3, 1927, 44 Stat. 1372.

the information concerning the grades and staple length of cotton on hand, and when requested to permit such agent or employee of the Department of Agriculture to examine and classify samples of all such cotton on hand. The request of the Secretary of Agriculture for such information may be made in writing or by be made in writing or by a visiting representative, and if made in writing shall be forwarded by registered mail or by certified mail, and the registry receipt or receipt for certified mail of the Post Office Department shall be accepted as evidence of such demand. Any owner, president, treasurer, secretary, directory, or other officer or agent of any cotton warehouse, cotton ginnery, cotton mill, or other place or establishment where cotton is stored, or any owner or holder of any cotton or the agent or representative of any such owner or holder, who, under the conditions hereinbefore stated, shall refuse or willfully neglect to furnish any information herein provided for or shall willfully give answers that are false or shall refuse to allow agents or employees of the Department of Agriculture to examine or classify any cotton in store in any such establishment, or in the hands of any owner or holder or of the agent or representative of any such owner or holder, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $300 or more than $1,000. (7 U.S.C. 473.)

SMITH-DOXEY AMENDMENT'

SEC. 3a. The Secretary of Agriculture, upon request in writing from any group of producers organized to promote the improvement of cotton who comply with such regulations as he may prescribe, is authorized and directed to determine and to make promptly available to such producers, the classification, in accordance with the official cotton standards of the United States, of any cotton produced by them. The Secretary of Agriculture is further authorized to pay the transportation charges and to furnish tags and containers for the samples of cotton submitted for classification under this section, and all samples of cotton so classified shall become the property of the Government, and the proceeds of any sales thereof after classification shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. (7 U.S.C. 473a.)

SEC. 3b. The Secretary of Agriculture is also authorized and directed to collect, authenticate, publish, and distribute, by telegraph, radio, mail, or otherwise, timely information on the market supply, demand, location, condition, and market prices for cotton, and to cause to be prepared regularly and distributed for posting at gins, in post offices, or in other public or conspicuous places in cotton-growing communities, information on prices for the various grades and staple lengths of cotton. (7 U.S.C. 473b.)

SEC. 3c. The Secretary of Agriculture is further authorized to make such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act. (7 U.S.C. 473c.)

SEC. 3c-1. It shall be unlawful

(a) for any person sampling cotton for classification under this

2 Act of June 11, 1960, 74 Stat. 200, added "or by certified mail," and "or receipt for certified mail".

Sections 3a, 3b, and 3c added by Act of April 13, 1937, 50 Stat. 62. Sections are also known as the "Cotton Classification Act."

4 Section 3c-1 added by Act of July 5, 1960, 74 Stat. 328.

Act knowingly to sample cotton improperly, or to identify cotton samples improperly, or to accept money or other consideration, directly or indirectly, for any neglect or improper performance of duty as a sampler;

(b) for any person to influence improperly or to attempt to influence improperly or to forcibly assault, resist, impede, or interfere with any sampler in the taking of samples for classification under this Act;

(c) for any person knowingly to alter or cause to be altered a sample taken for classification under this Act by any means such as trimming, peeling, or dressing the sample, or by removing any leaf, trash, dust, or other material from the sample for the purpose of misrepresenting the actual quality of the bale from which the sample was taken;

(d) for any person knowingly to cause, or attempt to cause, the issuance of a false or misleading certificate or memorandum of classification under this Act by deceptive baling, handling, or sampling of cotton, or by any other means, or by submitting samples of such cotton for classification knowing that the cotton has been so baled, handled, or sampled;

(e) for any person knowingly to submit more than one sample from the same bale of cotton for classification under this Act, except a second sample submitted for review classification;

(f) for any person knowingly to operate or adjust a mechanical cotton sampler in such a manner that a representative sample is not drawn from each bale; and

(g) for any person knowingly to violate any regulation of the Secretary of Agriculture relating to the sampling of cotton made pursuant to section 3c of this Act. (7 U.S.C. 473c-1.)

SEC. 3c-2.5 Any person violating any provision of section 3c 1 of this Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. (7 U.S.C. 473c-2.)

SEC. 3c-3. In construing and enforcing the provisions of this Act, the act, omission, or failure of any agent, officer, or other person acting for or employed by an individual, association, partnership, corporation, or firm, within the scope of his employment or office, shall be deemed to be the act, omission, or failure of the individual, association, partnership, corporation, or firm, as well as that of the person. (7 U.S.C. 473c-3.)

SEC. 3d.' The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make analyses of fiber properties, spinning tests, and other tests of the quality of cotton samples submitted to him by cotton breeders and other persons, subject to such terms and conditions and to the payment by such cotton breeders and other persons of such fees as he may prescribe by regulations under this Act. The fees to be assessed hereunder shall be reasonable, and, as nearly as may be, to cover the cost of the service rendered. (7 U.S.C. 473d.)

5 Section 3c-2 added by Act of July 5, 1960, 74 Stat. 328.

• Section 3c-3 added by Act of July 5, 1960, 74 Stat. 328.

Section 3d added by Act of April 7, 1941, 55 Stat. 131. Section is also known as the "Cotton Service Testing Amendment".