[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 118 (Friday, July 31, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2093]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  FOOD SAFETY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 2009

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, the use of massive amounts of human 
antibiotics for non-therapeutic purposes in industrial food animal 
production is seriously jeopardizing the health of Americans. This 
practice is contributing to the emergence and spread of antibiotic-
resistant bacteria, often rendering ineffective human life-savings 
drugs.
  I am submitting for the record a letter to the White House, signed by 
twenty reputable organizations such as the Infectious Diseases Society 
of America, American Medical Association, American Academy of 
Pediatrics, and Pew Charitable Trusts, which supports the Food and Drug 
Administration's early steps to phase out the use of antibiotics for 
growth promotion and feed efficiency in food animals, and calls on the 
Administration to go further.

                                                    July 24, 2009.
     Ms. Melody Barnes,
     Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, The White 
         House, Washington, DC.
       Dear Ms. Barnes: As organizations committed to protecting 
     patients, public health, animal health, and food safety, the 
     undersigned groups are writing to express our grave concern 
     about the misuse of antibiotics in agriculture and our strong 
     support for the Administration's new ``public health approach 
     to antimicrobial use in animals,'' which was articulated by 
     the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its July 13th 
     statement before the Rules Committee of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives. The Obama Administration's leadership in 
     providing a clear path forward on this highly politically 
     charged issue is very much welcomed after decades of inertia.
       Our combined memberships include the country's foremost 
     scientific and medical experts and represent more than eleven 
     million concerned Americans and health professionals. Our 
     position is based on objective health interests and concerns 
     that dangerous drug resistant infections are rapidly 
     increasing in hospitals and community settings adding to the 
     economic burden of the U.S. healthcare costs.
       Specifically, we support the FDA's calls for phasing out 
     the use of antimicrobial drugs for growth promotion and feed 
     efficiency, and for requiring that all other uses of these 
     drugs be carried out under the supervision of a veterinarian 
     and within the boundaries of a valid veterinarian-client-
     patient relationship--which we expect will end over-the-
     counter sales of tons of antimicrobial drugs annually. We 
     also support the agency's expressed intent to clearly define 
     the limited instances where antimicrobials may be used 
     judiciously in food animals for purposes of disease 
     prevention and control and are eager to work with FDA to 
     ensure that the policy developed is the most protective of 
     public health. We also urge the agency to make the new 
     antimicrobial policy mandatory, retroactive to already-
     approved drugs, and enforceable, in order to best guarantee a 
     significant reduction in antimicrobial use. The 
     Administration's statement clearly demonstrates a commitment 
     to sound and science-based policies that are backed up by 
     scores of scientific and medical publications and will 
     protect the health of every American.
       The development of antimicrobial agents to treat life-
     threatening infections has been one of the most notable 
     medical achievements of the past century. Physicians, 
     healthcare professionals, and public health and food safety 
     advocates are greatly concerned about the growing body of 
     scientific evidence demonstrating that antimicrobial drug use 
     in livestock and poultry contributes to the spread of drug-
     resistant bacteria to people. Drug-resistant organisms are 
     plaguing Americans, including otherwise healthy individuals, 
     in healthcare settings and communities across the country. We 
     are pleased that these concerns finally are being recognized 
     and addressed by the federal government to forestall 
     epidemics of untreatable infections.
       Fundamental to FDA's new approach--and our support for it--
     are the principles that: ``protecting public health requires 
     the judicious use in animal agriculture of those 
     antimicrobials of importance in human medicine'' and that 
     ``purposes other than for the advancement of animal and human 
     health should not be considered judicious use.''--Dr. Joshua 
     Sharfstein, FDA's Principal Deputy Commissioner, July 13, 
     2009.
       The Administration's vision to eliminate non-judicious uses 
     of antimicrobial drugs, including for purposes of growth 
     promotion and feed efficiency and non-judicious disease 
     prevention which have been practiced in animal agriculture 
     for several decades, demonstrates a critical public policy 
     shift that will better protect the public against resistant 
     infections and preserve the power of existing antibiotics. In 
     addition, we urge FDA to formalize its position on veterinary 
     supervision of all antimicrobial uses and ending the over-
     the-counter sale of antibiotics for animal agricultural uses, 
     which are long-overdue. The sale of antimicrobials for use in 
     human medicine requires a prescription; there is no reason to 
     permit a lower standard for agricultural purposes where 
     considerably more antimicrobial drugs are used annually.
       The Administration's new policy direction appears intended 
     to reflect the concerns of a broad consensus of the 
     scientific, medical, public health and international health 
     communities. Such consensus is buttressed by the actions of 
     expert bodies and governments. For example:
       Since 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called 
     upon all nations to shift from use of antimicrobials in non-
     human medicine.
       In 2003, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National 
     Academies of Science called on the FDA to ban the use of 
     antimicrobials for growth promotion in animals, if those 
     drugs were also used in human medicine.
       In 2006, the European Union banned non-therapeutic use of 
     antimicrobials, because such use was found to raise food 
     safety concerns, and the ban was instituted to protect 
     against further development of antimicrobial resistance.
       We recognize that phasing out of antimicrobials for non-
     judicious uses in animals will require changes in the 
     agricultural industry. But protection of the public's health 
     must come first, and the phase out can be conducted in a way 
     that that minimizes costs to the agriculture industry. 
     Farmers in Europe have adapted to such a policy without undue 
     disruption of production or increased consumer costs; the 
     United States can learn from that experience while also 
     protecting American lives. In addition, the U.S. Department 
     of Agriculture has recognized that various production methods 
     used in the United States today are viable alternatives to 
     non judicious antimicrobial uses and such alternatives are 
     employed with little negative--or even with somewhat 
     positive--economic impact to producers.
       We urge you to maintain the scientifically sound positions 
     the Administration already has taken in support of phasing 
     out growth promotion and feed efficiency uses, and to 
     finalize a policy that will strictly manage a narrow set of 
     prophylactic uses while mandating veterinary-patient 
     relationships and eliminating the over-the-counter sale of 
     antibiotics for use in animals.
       We remain committed to working with the Administration to 
     implement these new approaches in ways that will best protect 
     the lives and health of both humans and animals.
           Sincerely,
       Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics.
       American Academy of Pediatrics.
       American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
       American Medical Association.
       American Pharmacists Association.
       American Public Health Association.
       American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
       Association for Professionals in Infection Control and 
     Epidemiology.
       Food Animal Concerns Trust.
       Humane Society of the United States.
       Infectious Diseases Society of America.
       Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
       Keep Antibiotics Working.
       Michigan Antibiotic Resistance Reduction Coalition.
       National Association of County and City Health Officials.
       Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming.
       Premier, a healthcare alliance serving 2,100 nonprofit 
     hospitals and 58,000 healthcare sites.
       Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.
       Trust for America's Health.
       Union of Concerned Scientists.

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