[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 20, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S54-S56]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. Akaka):
  S. 2007. A bill to provide better protection against bovine 
spongiform encephalopathy and other prion diseases; to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation that 
would strengthen consumer confidence in the safety of our nation's beef 
supply while expanding our understanding of the many prion diseases 
that affect both humans and animals. This bill, known as the BSE and 
Other Prion Disease Prevention and Public Health Protection Act 
codifies some of USDA's recent steps, requires more aggressive testing 
of older cattle and expands surveillance for Chronic Wasting Disease 
(CWD) in deer and elk and Creutzfedt-Jacob disease (CJD) in people.
  Our country has been blessed with the safest and most abundant food 
supply in the world, but we can do better. The events surrounding the 
diagnosis of the first Mad Cow case in Washington State demonstrate 
that improvements are possible. Had the provisions of my bill been in 
place in early December, the animal would never have been allowed to 
enter both the human food supply and the consumer product system and 
contaminate 2.8 million pounds of products.
  Currently, only 20,000 out of 35 million cattle presented for 
processing are tested for BSE. How many cattle in America have BSE? We 
are hopeful that there was only this one isolated case but the truth is 
that we don't know because we test so few animals. Answering that 
question today is similar to trying to estimate the prevalence of HIV 
infection in people by only testing individuals who have symptoms of 
AIDS. At the current level of testing, we have no real estimate of the 
true prevalence rate of BSE in our country.
  A similar situation exists with respect to CWD, in deer and elk, or 
CJD in humans. The bill that I am introducing provides for more testing 
of all ruminants intended for human consumption as well as expanded 
surveillance for the human prion diseases.
  Better surveillance: The bill requires the use of rapid BSE tests for 
all cattle and bison over 30 months of age and for all sheep, goats, 
deer and elk over 12 months of age. Rapid tests can provide results the 
same day that they are taken instead of the current five to seven days. 
Although most sampling and testing for BSE will occur through USDA 
inspectors at slaughterhouses, the bill also provides for on-farm 
sampling of non-ambulatory animals. In addition, all ruminants of any 
age exhibiting neurological symptoms would be tested.
  All tested animals would be held until the results of the test are 
known rather than being released into the food supply and consumer 
product system, as was the case in Washington. An expensive and time-
consuming recall of products would be avoided.
  The bill also requires the development of a mandatory ruminant 
identification program to allow for trace back of diseased animals to 
their farm of origin within 48 hrs after diagnosis. This is significant 
not only for BSE but for other reportable illnesses such as 
brucellosis, tuberculosis and foot and mouth disease.
  There are also provisions that require expanded coordination of 
testing for CWD in farm-raised and wild deer and elk. To support 
expanded ruminant testing for prion diseases, the bill calls for the 
expansion of the national animal health laboratory network to include 
state and university veterinary diagnostic laboratories.
  Similarly, the bill expands the sampling of suspected cases of human 
CJD through the National Prion Disease Pathology Research Center at 
Case Western Reserve University.
  Targeting Risk Materials: The bill updates and expands the definition 
of BSE specified risk materials and bans the use of such materials from 
cattle over 30 months of age for any use.
  Importation of ruminant-based products: The bill expands the list of 
ruminant derived products that must be labeled for contents and country 
of origin and bans imported products containing ruminant-derived 
materials from countries identified as at-risk for BSE transmission.

[[Page S55]]

  Feed Ban: The bill closes loopholes in the USDA rules on recycling 
pet food and poultry litter back into ruminant feed. The legislation 
requires FDA to develop a database for handlers of livestock, renderers 
and feed mills and feed blenders.
  We currently have only a limited understanding of prions and the 
diseases that they cause. To understand how these significant and 
challenging misfolded bits of protein can affect us, we need better 
data. We need data on which to base sound policy for our public health, 
for our animal health and for the safety of our food supply.
  While we are accumulating that data, we need to take every reasonable 
step to ensure that we do not introduce infective material through 
importation or through feeding our ruminant animals contaminated feed. 
An expanded testing program will demonstrate to our trading partners 
that they have nothing to fear in buying our meat products.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort to strengthen consumer 
confidence in the safety of our food supply. The BSE and Other Prion 
Disease Prevention and Public Health Protection Act can provide the 
public with the confidence that our beef and venison is safe to eat and 
can assure our trading partners that we are aggressively addressing BSE 
surveillance in the United States.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. SPECTER:
  S. 2008. A bill to amend the Animal Health Protection Act to direct 
the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an electronic nationwide 
livestock identification system, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I am now introducing legislation 
identified as the National Farm Animal Identification Records Act on 
behalf of Senator Leahy and myself.
  Less than a month ago, on December 25, a case of mad cow disease was 
diagnosed in a single nonambulatory dairy cow that was slaughtered in 
Washington State. This cow belonged to a herd of some 82 dairy cows 
which were cleared for clearance in the United States in 2002. This 
case of mad cow disease has caused quite an alarm, with enormous impact 
on the industry for providing meats in the United States. It has caused 
a lot of concern throughout the country.
  This legislation is directed to having an identification system, an 
electronic nationwide livestock identification system which will enable 
the Federal Government, the Department of Agriculture, to identify 
animals. There is a chip in the animal's ear and it will be possible to 
identify the animals and where they came from so that in the event 
there is any diagnosis of mad cow disease, there will be a way to deal 
with it and to prevent its spread and provide public confidence that 
the meat is not infected with mad cow disease.
  This disease has had a very major impact on the livestock industry, 
touching Pennsylvania, my State, as well as many other States in the 
country. This is a salutary, preventive legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent a full copy of the text be printed in the 
Congressional Record following my statement.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                                S. 2008

       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 ``National Farm Animal 
     Identification and Records Act''.

     SEC. 2. NATIONWIDE LIVESTOCK IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM; REVIEW OF 
                   USDA RESPONSES TO OUTBREAKS OF DISEASE IN 
                   LIVESTOCK.

       Section 10411 of the Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 
     8310) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(f) Nationwide Livestock Identification System.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall establish 
     an electronic nationwide livestock identification system for 
     the identification of individual animals to enhance the speed 
     and accuracy of the response of the Department of Agriculture 
     to outbreaks of disease in livestock.
       ``(2) Capabilities.--The livestock identification system 
     shall be capable of tracing, within 48 hours, an individual 
     animal from birth to slaughter.
       ``(3) Participation by states.--The States shall provide 
     information for inclusion in, and shall have access to, the 
     livestock identification system.
       ``(4) Use of existing technology.--The Secretary may use 
     technology developed by private entities before the date of 
     enactment of this subsection to operate the livestock 
     identification system.
       ``(5) Financial assistance.--The Secretary may provide 
     financial assistance to producers to assist the producers in 
     complying with the livestock identification system.
       ``(6) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this subsection for fiscal 
     year 2004 $50,000,000, of which $25,000,000 shall be 
     available to carry out paragraph (5).
       ``(g) Review of Responses to Outbreaks of Disease.--The 
     Secretary may appoint an international panel of scientific 
     experts to provide an objective review of a response by the 
     Department of Agriculture to an outbreak of disease in 
     livestock and identify areas for improvements in such 
     responses.''.

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the National Farm 
Animal Identification and Records Act or the FAIR Act, with my friend 
and colleague Senator Specter. This legislation would establish a 
uniform national electronic animal identification program to trace 
animals from birth to slaughter, within 48 hours, in order to combat 
animal disease outbreaks.
  As the recent discovery of a cow infected with bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy, BSE, or mad cow disease, in Washington State 
demonstrated, a verifiable nationwide animal identification system is 
urgently needed to enhance the speed and accuracy of USDA's response to 
disease outbreaks. Unfortunately to date only, 23 of the 81 cows that 
came from Canada with the infected mad cow have been able to be located 
because of inadequate records. The National Farm Animal Identification 
and Records Act FAIR Act would require the Department of Agriculture to 
establish a national animal identification program for individual 
animals that could trace an animal's history within 48 hours.
  As a senior member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry 
Committee, I have long advocated for the establishment of a national 
animal identification system. For the last 5 years I have worked with 
the Holstein Association in Brattleboro, Vermont to begin the process 
of creating a national animal identification program. The Holstein 
Association's pilot program, a precursor to this national animal 
identification program legislation, electronically identifies 
individual animals and tracks their movements from birth to slaughter 
within 48 hours. To date Holstein's pilot program has close to a 
million bovines enrolled from over 7000 farms in 42 States and has 
proven its electronic animal tracking capabilities.
  The Holstein project demonstrates electronically tracing individual 
animals immediately is achievable. The technology and expertise 
developed by the Holstein Association is a prime example of how the 
Department could immediately begin tracking individual newborn animals 
electronically with a system similar to National FAIR. The Holstein 
Association could be an important partner with USDA in reducing the 
impact of future animal diseases.
  I would also like to applaud Secretary Veneman's announcement last 
month of additional mad cow safeguards, including moving toward a 
national animal identification system. I believe this was a positive 
step toward protecting American farmers and consumers. Unfortunately 
USDA's current plans do not call for individual animal identification 
to be completed until mid 2006. The FAIR Act would require the 
Department to begin implementation of a national system within months 
of passage. In addition, it is clear USDA will need additional 
resources to carry out a national animal identification program, thus 
our legislation will provide additional funding for USDA to begin this 
work immediately. Furthermore to ensure producers are not hurt by the 
potential costs of a national system, our bill will provide financial 
assistance for producers to carry out a national identification system.
  It is time for the United States to take serious steps to combat 
animal diseases, like BSE, that have broad public health implications 
for our Nation. A national animal identification program is long 
overdue. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. SMITH:

[[Page S56]]

  S. 2009. A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to 
require the Secretary of the Interior to give greater weight to 
scientific or commercial data that is empirical or has been field-
tested or peer-reviewed, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, today as my first legislative action of the 
new session, I am introducing important legislation that would require 
a higher standard for the science used in administering the Endangered 
Species Act. The Sound Science for Endangered Species Act Planning Act 
of 2004 would require independent scientific peer review of certain 
actions taken by the regulatory agencies under the Endangered Species 
Act. In addition, it would require the Secretary of the Interior and 
the Secretary of Commerce to give greater weight to scientific or 
commercial data that is empirical or has been field-tested or peer-
reviewed.
  In recent years, we in the northwest have experienced a number of 
situations in which Federal agency scientists either demanded actions 
not supported by scientific data, or actually fabricated the data 
itself. In December 2001, it was revealed that Federal employees had 
submitted hairs from a captive Canada lynx as though they had been 
recovered during field surveys in several national forests to determine 
the range and habitat of this threatened species.
  It was also revealed in an Oregon newspaper that a Forest Service 
biologist criticized his own agency for shoddy work. This employee 
called into question much of the information collected over 18 years on 
one national forest, claiming that determinations for projects were 
based on sketchy information that was not accomplished according to 
protocol, or not collected at all. Rather than denying these charges, 
the Forest Service acknowledged that they had some validity, and 
launched an investigation.
  The most egregious example of decisions not based on scientific 
evidence, however, occurred in the Klamath Basin in 2001. As many of 
you may recall, I have come to the floor of the Senate on many 
occasions over the last several years to plead the case of the farmers 
and ranchers in the Klamath Basin. In 2001, field-level biologists with 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries 
Service developed two separate biological opinions on the operation of 
the Klamath Project, as it related to suckers and coho salmon, 
respectively.
  Taken together, these two biological opinions sought to both raise 
the lake of level of Upper Klamath Lake and increase flows in the 
Klamath River, at the time the basin was experiencing a severe drought. 
On April 6, 2001, the Bureau of Reclamation announced that the agency 
would deliver no water to most of the agricultural lands that had 
received irrigation water from the Federal project for almost 100 
years.
  I cannot begin to describe the human toll that these biological 
opinions exacted on the farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin. 
Those who still have their farms lost most of their farm income that 
year. Many depleted their life savings just to hold onto their land. 
Ranchers were forced to sell off livestock herds that year. Stable farm 
worker communities were decimated as families moved to find work.
  The real tragedy is that none of this had to occur. Late last year, 
scientists with the National Research Council found that the two key 
decisions regarding the operation of the Klamath Project that deprived 
farmers of their water lacked ``substantial scientific support.''
  This situation should never be repeated. Decisions of this magnitude 
under the Endangered Species Act must be peer reviewed, and some 
standard for the science used in these decisions must be established.
  I was in Klamath Falls the day after the decision was made to cut off 
water to the farmers. I will never forget the anguish on the faces of 
the people I met with that day. Many were World War II veterans who 
received homesteads in this Basin after the war or their children, none 
of whom could believe that this action was being taken by a government 
``of the people, for the people, and by the people.''
  Our constituents deserve better from their Government. They will get 
it if this bill is enacted. There is an identical bill in the House 
that has bipartisan support, and 63 cosponsors. I urge my colleagues to 
join me in cosponsoring this reasonable bill to help restore sound 
science to agency decisionmaking.

                          ____________________