[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 700 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.700
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and one
An Act
To establish a Federal interagency task force for the purpose of
coordinating actions to prevent the outbreak of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (commonly known as ``mad cow disease'') and foot-and-
mouth disease in the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Animal Disease Risk Assessment,
Prevention, and Control Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) it is in the interest of the United States to maintain
healthy livestock herds;
(2) managing the risks of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases in the United
States may require billions of dollars for remedial activities by
consumers, producers, and distributors of livestock and animal and
blood products;
(3) the potential introduction of those diseases into the
United States would cause devastating financial losses to--
(A) the agriculture industry and other economic sectors;
and
(B) United States trade in the affected animals and animal
products;
(4) foot-and-mouth disease is a severe and highly contagious
viral infection affecting cattle, deer, goats, sheep, swine, and
other animals;
(5) the most effective means of eradicating foot-and-mouth
disease is by the slaughter of affected animals;
(6) while foot-and-mouth disease was eradicated in the United
States in 1929, the virus could be reintroduced by--
(A) a single infected animal, an animal product, or a
person carrying the virus;
(B) an act of terrorism; or
(C) other means;
(7) once introduced, foot-and-mouth disease can spread quickly
through--
(A) exposure to aerosols from infected animals;
(B) direct contact with infected animals; and
(C) contact with contaminated feed, equipment, or humans
harboring the virus or carrying the virus on their clothing;
(8) foot-and-mouth disease is endemic to more than \2/3\ of the
world and is considered to be widespread in parts of Africa, Asia,
Europe, and South America;
(9) foot-and-mouth disease occurs in over 7 different serotypes
and 60 subtypes;
(10) as foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks have occurred, the
United States has banned the importation of live ruminants and
swine and many animal products from countries affected by foot-and-
mouth disease;
(11) recently, the United States has implemented bans in
response to outbreaks in Argentina, the European Union, and Taiwan;
(12) although United States exclusion programs have been
successful at keeping foot-and-mouth disease out of the United
States since 1929, recent outbreaks in Argentina, the European
Union, and Taiwan are placing an unprecedented strain on our animal
health system;
(13) bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a transmissible,
neuro-degenerative disease found in cattle;
(14) in cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the
active agent is found primarily in the brain and spinal cord and
has not been found in commonly consumed beef products;
(15) bovine spongiform encephalopathy is thought to have an
incubation period of several years but is ultimately fatal to
cattle within weeks of onset of the active disease;
(16) bovine spongiform encephalopathy was first widely found in
1986 in cattle in the United Kingdom;
(17) bovine spongiform encephalopathy-carrying cattle have been
found in cattle in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
and Switzerland;
(18) cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy
originating from the United Kingdom have been found and intercepted
in Canada;
(19) since 1989, the Secretary of Agriculture has prohibited
the importation of live grazing animals from countries where bovine
spongiform encephalopathy has been found in cattle;
(20) other products derived from grazing animals, such as blood
meal, bonemeal, fat, fetal bovine serum, glands, meat-and-bone
meal, and offal, are prohibited from entry, except under special
conditions or under permits issued by the Secretary of Agriculture
for scientific or research purposes;
(21) on December 12, 1997, the Secretary of Agriculture
extended those restrictions to include all countries in Europe
because of concerns about widespread risk factors and inadequate
surveillance for bovine spongiform encephalopathy;
(22) on December 7, 2000, the Secretary of Agriculture
prohibited all imports of rendered animal protein products from
Europe;
(23) Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease is a human spongiform
encephalopathy;
(24) on March 20, 1996, the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory
Committee of the United Kingdom announced the identification of 10
cases of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease;
(25) all 10 patients developed onsets of the disease in 1994 or
1995;
(26) scientific experts (including scientists at the Department
of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services, and
the World Health Organization) are studying the possible link
(including potential routes of transmission) between bovine
spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease;
(27) from October 1996 to December 2000, 87 cases of variant
Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease have been reported in the United Kingdom,
3 cases in France, and 1 case in Ireland; and
(28) to reduce the risk of human spongiform encephalopathies in
the United States, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs has--
(A) banned individuals who lived in Great Britain for at
least 180 days since 1980 from donating blood in the United
States; and
(B) established regulations that prohibit the feeding of
most animal-derived proteins to grazing animals.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide the people of
the United States and Congress with information concerning--
(1) actions by Federal agencies to prevent foot-and-mouth
disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases;
(2) the sufficiency of legislative authority to prevent or
control foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
and related diseases in the United States;
(3) the economic impacts associated with the potential
introduction of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, and related diseases into the United States; and
(4) the risks to public health from possible links between
bovine spongiform encephalopathy and other spongiform
encephalopathies to human illnesses.
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
(a) Preliminary Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to
the committees and subcommittees described in paragraph (2) a
preliminary report concerning--
(A) coordinated interagency activities to assess, prevent,
and control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease and bovine
spongiform encephalopathy in the United States;
(B) sources of information from the Federal Government
available to the public on foot-and-mouth disease and bovine
spongiform encephalopathy; and
(C) any immediate needs for additional legislative
authority, appropriations, or product bans to prevent the
introduction of foot-and-mouth disease or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy into the United States.
(2) Submission of report to congress.--The Secretary shall
submit the preliminary report to--
(A) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives;
(B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
of the Senate;
(C) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and
Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate; and
(D) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development,
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies of the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
(b) Final Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to
the committees and subcommittees described in subsection (a)(2) a
final report that--
(A) discusses the economic impacts associated with the
potential introduction of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases into the United
States;
(B) discusses the potential risks to public and animal
health from foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, and related diseases; and
(C) provides recommendations to protect the health of
animal herds and citizens of the United States from those risks
including, if necessary, recommendations for additional
legislation, appropriations, or product bans.
(2) Contents.--The report shall contain--
(A) an assessment of the risks to the public presented by
the potential presence of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases in domestic and
imported livestock, livestock and animal products, wildlife,
and blood products;
(B) recommendations to reduce and manage the risks of foot-
and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and
related diseases;
(C) any plans of the Secretary to identify, prevent, and
control foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, and related diseases in domestic and imported
livestock, livestock products, wildlife, and blood products;
(D) a description of the incidence and prevalence of foot-
and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, variant
Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related diseases in other
countries;
(E) a description and an analysis of the effectiveness of
the measures taken to assess, prevent, and control the risks of
foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related diseases in
other countries;
(F) a description and an analysis of the effectiveness of
the measures that the public, private, and nonprofit sectors
have taken to assess, prevent, and control the risk of foot-
and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and
related diseases in the United States, including controls of
ports of entry and other conveyances;
(G) a description of the measures taken to prevent and
control the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and
variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease transmission through blood
collection and transfusion;
(H) a description of any measures (including any
planning or managerial initiatives such as interagency,
intergovernmental, international, and public-private sector
partnerships) that any Federal agency plans to initiate or
continue to assess, prevent, and control the spread of foot-
and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, variant
Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related diseases in the United
States and other countries;
(I) plans by Federal agencies (including the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention)--
(i) to monitor the incidence and prevalence of the
transmission of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and
related diseases in the United States; and
(ii) to assess the effectiveness of efforts to
prevent and control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease,
bovine spongiform encephalopathy, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob
disease, and related diseases in the United States;
(J) plans by Federal agencies (including the Agricultural
Research Service, the Cooperative State Research, Education,
and Extension Service, and the National Institutes of Health)
to carry out, in partnership with the private sector--
(i) research programs into the causes and mechanism of
transmission of foot-and-mouth disease and bovine
spongiform encephalopathy; and
(ii) diagnostic tools and preventive and therapeutic
agents for foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and
related diseases;
(K) plans for providing appropriate compensation for
affected animals in the event of the introduction of foot-and-
mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or related
diseases into the United States; and
(L) recommendations to Congress for legislation that will
improve efforts to assess, prevent, or control the transmission
of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related diseases in the
United States and in other countries.
(c) Consultation.--
(1) Preliminary report.--In preparing the preliminary report
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with--
(A) the Secretary of the Treasury;
(B) the Secretary of Commerce;
(C) the Secretary of State;
(D) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(E) the Secretary of Defense;
(F) the United States Trade Representative;
(G) the Director of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency; and
(H) representatives of other appropriate Federal agencies;
(2) Final report.--In preparing the final report under
subsection (b), the Secretary shall consult with--
(A) the individuals listed in paragraph (1);
(B) private and nonprofit sector experts in infectious
disease, research, prevention, and control;
(C) international, State, and local governmental animal
health officials;
(D) private, nonprofit, and public sector livestock
experts;
(E) representatives of blood collection and distribution
entities; and
(F) representatives of consumer and patient organizations
and other interested members of the public.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.