[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H5924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    HEATED DEBATE CONTINUES ON NAFTA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Brown] is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, as the President prepares to ask 
Congress for fast track negotiating authority, heated debate continues 
on the economic effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement. 
There is no debate, however, on the serious threat that NAFTA poses to 
food safety in the United States.
  In an effort to increase trade with Mexico, NAFTA limits border 
inspections of food, it allows Mexican trucks to enter the United 
States with limited inspection. As a result, NAFTA is directly 
responsible for a significant increase in imports of contaminated foods 
into the United States.
  These lax inspection procedures contributed to a sharp increase in 
food imports from Mexico. Imports of Mexican fruit have increased 45 
percent, and vegetable imports have increased 31 percent. More than 70 
percent of these imports are carried into the United States by truck.
  As the General Accounting Office recently documented, these trucks, 
many of which have been identified as dangerous themselves, pass 
through the border uninspected, bringing increasing amounts of food 
tainted with diseases and unhealthy pesticides. In fact, the GAO found 
that over 99 percent of Mexican trucks coming into the United States 
were never inspected, and of those that were inspected, almost half of 
them were found to be unsafe.
  We were alarmed earlier this year when 179 Michigan schoolchildren 
contracted hepatitis after eating tainted Mexican strawberries. In 
order to prevent similar incidents in the future, the United States 
should, first, renegotiate the provisions in NAFTA which relate to 
border inspections and food safety and ensure that any future requests 
for fast track authority include strong food safety protections; 
second, increase the funding for border inspections or, alternatively, 
limit the increasing rate of food imports to ensure the safety of our 
food supply in this country so what happened in Michigan does not 
happen in other States across the country; and third, begin an 
aggressive program to label all foodstuffs, including fresh and frozen 
fruits, vegetables, and meats with their country of origin.
  We must work with the President to address these serious deficiencies 
in our trade policy and to ensure that these same mistakes are not made 
in the future. Let us get off the fast track for unsafe foods. The 
health of our families is too important to go fast. Let us slow down on 
negotiating fast track. Let us slow down and craft trade agreements 
that contain meaningful food safety protections.
  Again, remember these numbers: More than 99 percent of trucks that 
come into the United States from Mexico have never been inspected. Of 
those that are inspected, almost half of them have been found to be 
unsafe, and only about 1 percent of food that is coming into the United 
States, fruits and vegetables, frozen and fresh, are inspected. That is 
what is so important as we debate fast track authority in September for 
the coming year. It is important that we include those food safety 
elements in the fast track agreement.

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