[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 8, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S2279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S2279]]
                  SUSSEX COUNTY, DE: NO. 1 IN COUNTRY

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I am very proud to come to the Senate floor 
today to announce that the 1992 Census of Agriculture has named Sussex 
County, the southern most county in the beautiful State of Delaware, as 
the No. 1 poultry producing county in the United States. As my hometown 
newspaper, the Wilmington News Journal, so eloquently stated it: 
``Sussex County still rules the roost as the chicken-growin'est county 
in the nation.''
  Of course, being the No. 1 producer is nothing new for Sussex 
County--the county has officially remained the No. 1 producer since 
1982. In fact, Sussex County has been the unofficial leading poultry 
producer since the industry got its start in Ocean View, DE, in 1923.
  It all started with Mrs. Wilmer Steele when she placed an order for 
50 chicks, intended for egg production, and ended up with 500. She 
decided to raise rather than return the extra chicks, and when they 
were big enough she sold approximately 400 of them to a local buyer. 
Three years later, she and her husband were raising 25,000 young 
chickens and selling them to the local population who were discovering 
the versatility of chicken meat. America is eating about 10 times as 
much chicken today as we were in 1925, numbers attributable to the fact 
that chicken is high in protein, low in fat, tasty, and very 
affordable.
  Mr. President, we are doing everything we can in Delaware to maintain 
the productivity of the poultry industry nationwide. Today there is a 
disease, harmless to humans but deadly for chickens, affecting the 
productivity of Delaware poultry industry flocks. Avian diseases such 
as this affect flocks across the country on a regular basis. In an 
effort to prevent the economic damage done by these outbreaks, the 
University of Delaware, in cooperation with the Federal Government and 
private industry, is building a poultry research facility that will 
help the poultry industry solve this type of disease problem.
  I have worked very closely with the poultry industry people in my 
State to get this facility up and running. The Delmarva poultry 
industry has an outstanding record of commitment to research and 
development in avian diseases and I am hopeful that the remainder of 
the funds needed to finish this project can be secured this year. The 
growers who are responsible for keeping Sussex County and the Delmarva 
Peninsula in the ranks of the top producers know the importance of this 
facility to the national production of poultry.
  Mr. President, I would like to congratulate Sussex County for, once 
again, achieving No. 1 producer status and for providing the American 
public with healthy and affordable nutrition.


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