[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 9, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H904-H905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              BSE TESTING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, the most troubling aspect of the first 
case of mad cow disease is what it revealed about the cattle industry 
and the United States Department of Agriculture. It revealed that the 
USDA is not just protecting the food supply, but it is also actively 
promoting the cattle and meat packing industry. How well are these 
competing priorities balanced?
  Well, the mad cow episode has exposed holes in the food safety chain. 
It has revealed that the USDA's policy was not one of comprehensive 
testing, but rather a limited sampling of a few thousand. Of the over 
30 million cattle slaughtered last year, only a few thousand of these 
30 million were tested for mad cow disease.
  Beef, we found out, quickly disappears into the vast distribution 
network and is mixed with the remains of thousands of other cattle. 
These consolidated batches of meat are then distributed far and wide, 
which makes them difficult to recall, almost impossible to trace.
  Currently, there is only one laboratory owned by the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture located in Ames, Iowa, that performs testing on meat to 
detect mad cow disease. The techniques used in this laboratory require 
several days to complete. The public is rightly concerned. Maybe the 
reason we have not discovered mad cow disease until this past December 
in the United States is because Americans have been eating the 
evidence.
  There are responsible members of the beef industry that want to test 
their cattle and many consumers who want to buy this tested beef. The 
tests exist today that can be done quickly, cheaply, easily, and close 
to home. The cattlemen are willing to pay for it; customers consider 
tested beef worth the cost. So what is the problem? Well, our

[[Page H905]]

Department of Agriculture and the large beef producers do not want it 
tested. The $27 billion meat packing industry does not want the 
possibility that private testing would challenge the Bush 
administration's position that mad cow disease is not a problem.
  An article on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal details 
many of these responsible cattle producers' frustrations with the 
current Department of Agriculture policy. It recounted how David Luker, 
who owns Missouri Valley Natural Beef, wants to pay to test his beef in 
order to satisfy the demands of his customers. The USDA, however, will 
not allow it.
  The USDA's laboratory refused to test his cattle, insisting that the 
beef supply is safe, and just take our word for it. When Creekstone 
Farms Premium Beef said it wanted to build its own laboratory to test 
for mad cow disease in order to get back into the Japanese market where 
all cattle are tested, the USDA responded by saying anyone testing 
without the USDA approval, which they will not give, would face 
criminal charges. What is wrong with this picture?
  President Bush's friend and benefactor, ``Kenny Boy'' Lay, is walking 
around free after gross mismanagement of Enron, which devastated 
workers and cost American investors billions of dollars, yet the Bush 
administration is now prepared to press criminal charges against people 
who merely want to test to ensure that the beef they are producing is 
safe.
  There are four testing firms in the United States that make rapid 
diagnostic kits that can tell in a matter of hours whether a cow is 
infected. These kits are widely used in both Europe and Japan where 
testing is pervasive, and as I mentioned in Japan, where it is 
universal. Yet here, the administration will not allow these tests to 
be used on American cattle. This is not just an issue about mad cow 
disease, which is admittedly rare, we think, and we hope will stay that 
way. It is an issue of consumer choice and consumer protection. This is 
an issue of treating Americans like grown-ups and supplying them with 
information they can count on regarding food safety.
  If the administration was as concerned with the public interest as it 
is with special interest, we would have much higher testing standards 
in place at this point, and we would not be stopping responsible 
members of the industry from giving what many consumers want.
  Mr. Speaker, food safety is a key ingredient for a livable community 
where our families are safe, healthy, and economically secure. I hope 
the public will be heard on this important issue as this year 
progresses.

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