[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 12, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SUPPORT IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR NATION'S MEAT AND POULTRY INSPECTION SYSTEM

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                     HON. RANDY ``DUKE'' CUNNINGHAM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 12, 1996

  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend Chairman Skeen and 
members of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture for 
supporting full funding for the Food Safety and Inspection Service 
[FSIS]. American rely on FSIS to assure that meat and poultry products 
meet Federal quality, labeling, and packaging standards. I strongly 
support the $574 million provided in the fiscal year 1997 Agriculture 
appropriations bill for FSIS, which will work to improve our 90-year-
old meat and poultry inspection system. In the near future, FSIS will 
initiate the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point [HACCP] system, 
a new method of meat and poultry inspection. This new inspection system 
is needed to prevent harmful bacteria from ever entering the food 
supply, thus protecting the health of America citizens.
  As many are aware, an outbreak of the E.coli bacteria hit the west 
coast over 3 years ago. This outbreak infected 700 people and killed 4 
children. Some of the victims lived in my district. Following this 
tragedy, families and friends of victims joined together to establish 
``Safe Tables Our Priority,'' whose goal is to educate the public and 
legislators about the deadly E.coli bacteria. They are committed to 
improving the safety of the Nation's meat and poultry system. I am 
proud to have worked very closely with this organization over the last 
3 years, and I am pleased that they join me in supporting full funding 
of FSIS.

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