[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 118 (Thursday, July 17, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H6678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTRODUCTION OF FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE PREVENTION ACT

  (Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I introduced a bill to 
protect our Nation's food supply and rural economies. This bill, the 
Foot and Mouth Disease Prevention Act of 2008, will block meat imports 
from Argentina until the USDA can certify to Congress that every region 
of that country is free of FMD.
  The USDA is currently considering opening the U.S. protein market to 
select regions of Argentina, a country with a history of FMD outbreaks. 
This plan is flawed. It assumes that a highly infectious, airborne 
disease like FMD would stop at imaginary borders, and it trusts 
Argentina to effectively police itself.
  Argentina is a country that lacks the infrastructure to handle FMD 
outbreaks. The USDA hasn't conducted a safety assessment in Argentina 
since the 2006 outbreak there, yet it is still moving with their plan 
to regionalize the country. This doesn't make sense, and it is not 
sound policy.
  FMD has the potential to wipe out our livestock industry overnight, 
as it did to the British economy, which lost nearly $20 billion with 
their outbreak in 2001, resulting in 6 million animals destroyed. A 
similar outbreak here would cripple the livestock industry, shut down 
exports of American beef, and send meat prices through the roof.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this bill to block 
the USDA's plan to regionalize Argentina.




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