[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 127 (Thursday, October 12, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PRESERVING ESSENTIAL ANTIBIOTICS FOR HUMAN USE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SHERROD BROWN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 11, 2000

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend my colleagues for 
their recognition of an emerging threat to public health: antibiotic 
resistance.
  All over the world, a silent war is underway between people and 
infectious diseases. This is not a new struggle. Throughout human 
history, microbes have preyed on us, and we have fought back. As 
recently as the 19th century, the average lifespan in Europe and North 
America was 50 years, and the likelihood of dying prematurely from 
infectious diseases was as high as 40 percent. With the widespread 
introduction of penicillin and other antibiotics in the 1940s, we 
thought we had finally gained the upper hand. Finally, we could cure a 
whole raft of infectious diseases that routinely took human lives 
across the whole span of a human lifetime, from infancy, through the 
prime of life, to old age.
  But the struggle is not over. Earlier this year, the World Health 
Organization issued a warning against antibiotic resistance. Microbes 
are mutating at an alarming rate into new strains that fail to respond 
to drugs. We need to develop new antibiotics, but it is too soon to 
give up the ones we have. By using these precious medications more 
wisely and more sparingly, we can slow down antibiotic resistance.
  We need to change the way drugs are given to people, but we also need 
to look at the way drugs are given to animals. According to the World 
Heath Organization, about 50% of all antibiotics are used in 
agriculture, both for animals and plants. In the U.S., livestock 
producers use drugs to treat sick herds and flocks. They also feed a 
steady diet of antibiotics to healthy livestock so they will gain 
weight more quickly and be ready for market sooner.
  Many of these drugs are the same ones used to treat infections in 
people, including erythromycin and tetracycline. Prolonged exposure to 
antibiotics in farm animals provides a breeding ground for resistant 
strains of Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, and other bacteria 
harmful to humans. When transferred to people through food, they can 
cause dangerous infections.
  The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine is 
to be commended for taking steps to address the contribution of animal 
drugs to the antibiotic resistance problem. In view of the importance 
of these activities to human health, I offered an amendment to the 
agriculture appropriations bill with the goal of increasing CVM's 
budget for antibiotic resistance by $3 million. In accepting the 
amendment, the House for the first time tackled the public health 
threat from antibiotic resistant bacteria in our food supply.
  Today, the House voted to approve the conference report for the 
Fiscal Year 2001 Agriculture Appropriations bill. I am pleased to note 
that the report includes an additional $3 million for work done within 
the Center for Veterinary Medicine on antimicrobial resistance. I wish 
to commend my colleagues on the agriculture appropriations committees 
for recognizing the importance of these activities to public health, 
with special thanks to the ranking member in the House, my colleague 
from Ohio.
  If we continue to work together, we can come up with solutions to 
prolong the efficacy of antibiotics used to treat human illnesses, 
while at the same time ensuring that Americans will continue to enjoy a 
safe, affordable, plentiful food supply.

                          ____________________