ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

SEC. 109. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. The Act is amended by inserting after section 514 (7 U.S.C. 1514) the following new section: “SEC. 515. ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE. “(a) Establishment.— The Secretary may establish within the Department an advisory committee to be known as the ‘Advisory Committee for Federal Crop Insurance”. “(b) Primary Responsibility.— The primary responsibility of the Advisory Committee shall be to advise the Secretary on the implementation of this title and on other issues related to crop insurance, as determined by the Manager of the Corporation. “(c) Membership.— The Advisory Committee shall be composed of the Manager of the Corporation, the Secretary (or a designee of the Secretary), and not fewer than 12 members representing organizations and agencies involved in the provision of crop insurance under this tine. Not fewer than 3 of the members of the Advisory Committee shall be representatives of the specialty crops industry. The organizations or agencies represented by members on the Advisory Committee may include insurance companies, insurance agents, farm producer organizations, experts on agronomic practices, and banking and lending institutions. 108 STAT. 3198 “(d) Administrative Provisions.— “(1) Terms.— Members of the Advisory Committee (other than the Manager of the Corporation and the Secretary) shall be appointed by the Secretary for a term of up to 2 years from nominations made by the organizations and agencies specified in subsection (c). The terms of the members (other than the Manager of the Corporation and the Secretary) shall be staggered. “(2) Chairperson.— The Advisory Committee shall be chaired by the Manager of the Corporation. “(3) Meetings.— The Advisory Committee shall meet at least annually. The meetings of the Advisory Committee shall be publicly announced in advance and shall be open to the public. Appropriate records of the activities of the Advisory Committee shall be kept and made available to the public on request. “(e) Reports.— Not later than June 30 of each year, the Advisory Committee shall submit to the Secretary a report specifying the conclusions and recommendations of the Advisory Committee regarding— “(1) the progress toward implementation of this title; “(2) the actuarial soundness of the Federal crop insurance program; “(3) the rate of producer participation in both catastrophic risk protection under section 508(b) and additional coverage under section 508(c); and “(4) the progress toward improved crop insurance coverage for new and specialty crops. “(f) Termination of Authority.— The authority provided by this section shall terminate on September 30, 1998.”.