FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY.

SEC. 1999B. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY. (a) Findings.— Congress finds that— (1) fluid milk products are basic foods and are a primary source of required nutrients such as calcium, and otherwise are a valuable part of the human diet; (2) fluid milk products must be readily available and marketed efficiently to ensure that the people of the United States receive adequate nourishment; (3) the dairy industry plays a significant role in the economy of the United States, in that milk is produced by thousands of milk producers and dairy products (including fluid milk products) are consumed every day by millions of people in the United States; (4) the processing of milk into fluid milk products and the marketing of such products are important to the dairy industry because the fluid milk segment of the dairy market contributes substantially to ensuring that the prices paid to milk producers for raw milk are stable and adequate to maintain the overall strength of the dairy industry; (5) the maintenance and expansion of markets for fluid milk products are vital to the Nation’s fluid milk processors and milk producers, as well as to the general economy of the United States; (6) the cooperative development, financing, and implementation of a coordinated program of advertising and promotion of fluid milk products is necessary to maintain and expand markets for fluid milk products; 104 STAT. 3915 (7) it is appropriate to finance the cooperative program described in paragraph (6) with self-help assessments paid by the fluid milk processors; and (8) fluid milk products move in interstate and foreign commerce, and fluid milk products that do not move in such channels of commerce directly burden or affect interstate commerce in fluid milk products. (b) Policy.— It is declared to be the policy of Congress that it is in the public interest to authorize the establishment, through the exercise of the powers provided in this subtitle, of an orderly procedure for developing, financing (through adequate assessments on fluid milk products produced in the United States) and carrying out an effective and coordinated program of advertising designed to strengthen the position of the dairy industry in the marketplace and to maintain and expand markets and uses for fluid milk products produced in the United States. Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed to provide for the control of production or otherwise limit the right of individual milk producers to produce milk.