[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 92 (Monday, July 11, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RECOGNIZING AN ENVIRONMENTAL MILESTONE AT SMITHFIELD FOODS

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                          HON. J. RANDY FORBES

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 11, 2005

  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend publicly Smithfield 
Foods and its many employees, an important corporate citizen from my 
district in Southeastern Virginia.
  Smithfield has long been known throughout the United States as the 
leading producer of pork and other outstanding meat products. This 
spring, Smithfield Foods earned another important distinction. It was 
certified by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in Geneva, 
Switzerland as having met or exceeded the ISO's high standards for 
environmental management. It has achieved its aggressive goal of ISO 
14001 certification for all Environmental Management Systems, EMSs, in 
its U.S.-based hog production, and all its U.S. pork and beef 
processing facilities, except recent acquisitions.
  Smithfield is the first domestic processor of meat to earn 
certification under the ISO 14001 Standard--that is the gold standard 
for environmental stewardship not just in the United States but across 
the globe. To obtain ISO certification for its environmental practices, 
a company must meet a rigorous and comprehensive set of standards 
developed by more than 2,000 experts worldwide. It is a distinction 
that is a credit to Smithfield's leadership, and to its entire 
workforce.
  This was not the first milestone that Smithfield has achieved for its 
stewardship of our natural resources. Last month, our Commonwealth's 
Department of Environmental Quality, DEQ, awarded eight Smithfield 
Foods facilities with its Virginia Environmental Excellence Program 
designations. Six Smithfield facilities received Exemplary 
Environmental Enterprise, E3, status, and two others achieved 
Environmental Enterprise, E2, Status.
  As our State's Secretary of Natural Resources said in making these 
awards: ``Smithfield Foods has made superior environmental performance 
a management priority. This E3 designation shows that the company has 
made significant improvements in the management of its facilities in 
order to protect Virginia's environment.'' Smithfield has received 
other awards from states and communities all across our great country.
  Mr. Speaker, what is particularly significant about these milestones 
is that they have been achieved less than 10 years after Smithfield 
Foods received a large civil fine under the Clean Water Act for 
discharges into the Pagan River in Virginia.
  So what did Smithfield do? In response to those events and others, 
Smithfield embraced what one executive recently described as a 
``culture shift'' in its approach to environmental issues. Smithfield 
has embraced the simple idea that protecting the environment is not 
just the right thing to do, but smart business as well. And because 
Smithfield Foods has embraced environmental stewardship throughout the 
company, in many cases going beyond what is required by our laws, my 
district and many other parts of the United States are better places to 
live and work.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Smithfield Foods on its environmental 
turnaround and the recent recognition it has received for that progress 
in my district and across the country. I am confident that Smithfield 
will stay on this course in the years ahead.

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