
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC178]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
      CHAPTER 8A--RUBBER AND OTHER CRITICAL AGRICULTURAL MATERIALS
 
             SUBCHAPTER II--CRITICAL AGRICULTURAL MATERIALS
 
Sec. 178. Congressional findings and declaration of policy

    (a)(1) Congress recognizes that natural latex rubber is a commodity 
of vital importance to the economy, the defense, and the general well-
being of the Nation. The United States is totally dependent upon foreign 
sources for its supplies of natural (Hevea) latex, which total about one 
million tons per year. Synthetic rubber, manufactured from petroleum 
feedstocks, cannot be substituted for natural rubber.
    (2) Congress further recognizes that certain plant species of the 
genus Parthenium (Guayule), native to Texas and the Republic of Mexico, 
as well as other plants, are known to contain commercial quantities of 
extractable rubber. During World War II, through research carried out by 
the Secretary of Agriculture in the Emergency Rubber Project, the United 
States demonstrated that Parthenium latex is a promising and realistic 
substitute for Hevea latex.
    (3) Congress further recognizes that additional research and 
development are needed, especially into methods for increasing latex 
yields, before commercialization of native Parthenium latex or other 
hydrocarbon-containing plants by private industry is feasible.
    (4) Congress further recognizes that the development of a domestic 
natural rubber industry, based on Parthenium and other hydrocarbon-
containing plants, would not only relieve the Nation's dependence upon 
foreign latex sources but also convey substantial economic benefits to 
people living in arid and semiarid regions of the United States. Such an 
industry would comprise the agricultural production of the hydrocarbon-
containing plants and the development of commercial processing and 
manufacturing facilities to extract the latex and other products.
    (5) Congress further recognizes that ongoing research into the 
development and commercialization of native latex has been conducted by 
the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the National 
Science Foundation, and other public as well as private and industrial 
research groups, and that these research efforts should be continued and 
expanded.
    (b) In addition, Congress recognizes that the development of a 
domestic industry or industries for the production and manufacture from 
native agricultural crops of products other than rubber which are of 
strategic and industrial importance but for which the Nation is now 
dependent upon foreign sources, would benefit the economy, the defense, 
and the general well-being of the Nation, and that additional research 
efforts in this area should be undertaken or continued and expanded.
    (c) It is therefore the policy of the United States to provide for 
the development and demonstration of economically feasible means of 
culturing and manufacturing Parthenium and other hydrocarbon-containing 
plants, along with other native agricultural crops, for the production 
of critical agricultural materials to benefit the Nation and promote 
economic development.

(Pub. L. 95-592, Sec. 2, Nov. 4, 1978, 92 Stat. 2529; Pub. L. 98-284, 
Sec. 2, May 16, 1984, 98 Stat. 181.)


                               Amendments

    1984--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 2(1), redesignated 
existing provisions of subsec. (a) as par. (1).
    Subsec. (a)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 2(2), redesignated 
subsecs. (b), (c), and (d) as pars. (2), (3), and (4), respectively, of 
subsec. (a).
    Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 2(2), (3), redesignated subsec. 
(e) as par. (5) of subsec. (a), and in par. (5), as so redesignated, 
substituted ``development and commercialization of native latex has been 
conducted by the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, 
the National Science Foundation, and other public as well as private and 
industrial research groups,'' for ``commercialization of native latex 
has been conducted by the Department of Agriculture and by the 
Department of Commerce through the regional commissions''.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 2(4), added subsec. (b). Former 
subsec. (b) redesignated (a)(2).
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 2(4), added subsec. (c). Former 
subsec. (c) redesignated (a)(3).
    Subsecs. (d) and (e). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 2(2), redesignated 
subsecs. (d) and (e) as (a)(4) and (a)(5), respectively.
    Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 2(4), struck out subsec. (f) which 
provided: ``It is the policy of the Congress, therefore, to provide for 
the development and demonstration of economically feasible means of 
culturing and manufacturing Parthenium and other hydrocarbon-containing 
plants for the extraction of natural rubber and other products to 
benefit the Nation and promote economic development''. See subsec. (c).


                               Short Title

    Section 1 of Pub. L. 95-592, as amended by Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 1, 
May 16, 1984, 98 Stat. 181, provided: ``That this Act [enacting this 
subchapter and amending section 1314f of this title] may be cited as the 
`Critical Agricultural Materials Act'.'' As originally enacted Pub. L. 
95-592 had been cited as the ``Native Latex Commercialization and 
Economic Development Act of 1978''.
