[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 91 (Friday, July 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF `KEVIN'S LAW': THE MEAT AND POULTRY PATHOGEN REDUCTION 
                          AND ENFORCEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 30, 2005

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to join my colleague Representative 
Phil English in introducing important bipartisan legislation, `Kevin's 
Law': the Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act. This 
bipartisan bill will strengthen the ability of the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture to set and enforce food safety and sanitation standards for 
meat and poultry.
  Kevin's Law is named in memory of 2\1/2\-year-old Kevin Kowalcyk, who 
died so tragically in 2001 after eating a hamburger contaminated with 
E. coli O157:H7. Kevin's untimely death was agonizing and brutal. No 
child, no person should experience the pain that Kevin did, and no 
family should have to bear witness to a loved one suffering in the way 
that Kevin did.
  Sadly, Americans are far too vulnerable to fatal foodborne illnesses, 
especially children and the elderly. The Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention estimate that foodborne diseases cause roughly 76 
million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths each 
year. The tragedy is that many of these illnesses can be prevented with 
better science standards and enforcement. Congress must do much more to 
ensure the safety of our nation's food supply.
  In 2003, the National Academy of Sciences report Scientific Criteria 
to Ensure Safe Food recommended that Congress give regulatory agencies 
``the clear authority to establish and enforce compliance with science-
based food safety criteria, including performance standards.'' This 
legislation is just what the doctor ordered. Kevin's Law addresses 
these recommendations and will help ensure that the government has the 
authority it needs to prevent contaminated meat and poultry from 
entering our food supply by:
  Requiring the USDA to identify the pathogens that threaten human 
health (e.g. Salmonella, E. coli 0157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes).
  Requiring the USDA to establish performance standards to reduce the 
presence of these pathogens in meat and poultry.
  Confirming that the USDA has the authority to enforce its own 
standards by shutting down plants that continually breach basic health 
standards--authority that some processors have repeatedly challenged in 
court.
  Passage of Kevin's Law would put into place major recommendations of 
the National Academy of Sciences and the National Advisory Committee 
for Microbiological Criteria for Foods, both of which have consistently 
supported greater federal enforcement of food safety standards.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the current 22 co-sponsors of Kevin's Law for 
their support of this bill, and I encourage all my colleagues to join 
me in helping to protect millions of other Americans from fatal 
foodborne illnesses by passing this legislation.
  Finally, I thank Kevin's family for sharing their tragic story with 
the world, and especially Kevin's mother, Barbara Kowalcyk, and his 
grandmother, Pat Buck, for their continued important advocacy on behalf 
of increased safety standards for meat and poultry.

                          ____________________