[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 154 (Thursday, October 22, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10658-S10659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              FOOD SAFETY

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, today the Senate Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions Committee is holding a hearing to discuss the need 
to reform our Nation's outdated, underfunded, and overwhelmed food 
safety system. The focus, of course, in Washington right now is on 
health care. I truly believe we need to get a health care reform bill 
passed, and I will speak at another time about Medicare costs which the 
Republican leader addressed. It is my view that if we don't do anything 
to reform Medicare, we all know it is going in the red by 2017. We all 
know that if we continue the path we are following--if we don't bring 
higher quality standards into Medicare at lower costs--that is not good 
for anyone. It is certainly not good for our seniors. So based on my 
health care experience in my State and knowing what our State needs, we 
want to have that high-quality, low-cost focus, and that is what we are 
working to do on this bill.
  Today, I am here on another health matter; that is, the health of our 
food safety system. The hearing today and recent actions by the 
administration are good steps forward to ensure the safety of our food 
supply, but more must be done. The time to act is now. Why is the time 
to act now? Well, look at what has been going on.
  In the past few months, the recalls of peanut products, spinach, and 
cookie dough have shaken our confidence and trust in the food we eat. 
According to the Centers for Disease Control, foodborne disease causes 
about 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths 
in the United States each year.
  Last fall, hundreds of people across the country fell ill from 
salmonella. In this case, the source was finally traced to a peanut 
processing plant in Georgia. In the meantime, nine people died from 
salmonella poisoning, including three people in my home State, the 
State of Minnesota.
  The first responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. As 
Members of Congress, we must act quickly to pass tough new laws to 
strengthen our food system to ensure the health and safety of the 
American people. Americans spend more than $1 trillion on food every 
year, and when families go to the grocery store or out to eat or 
wherever they are going to get a bite to eat, they shouldn't have to 
worry about getting sick from the food they eat.
  I have joined with a bipartisan group of Senators to introduce the 
Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, which would overhaul the Federal 
Government's food safety program. Other cosponsors include Dick Durbin, 
Judd Gregg, Richard Burr, Chris Dodd, Lamar Alexander, and Saxby 
Chambliss. I wish to particularly thank Senator Durbin for his long-
time leadership on this issue.
  Whenever contaminated food is allowed to reach consumers, public 
trust in the integrity of our food supply and the effectiveness of our 
government is undermined. Think about it. The three people who died in 
Minnesota, one was an elderly woman at a nursing home. She was in 
perfectly good shape. She had a little piece of toast with peanut 
butter. That was it, a little piece of toast with peanut butter. In 
talking to her son, I learned so much about her and what a courageous 
woman she was. She ate one piece of toast with peanut butter.
  This bill will give the Food and Drug Administration the tools and 
authority for better inspections and a more responsive recall system. 
The bill will also improve our capacity to prevent foodborne outbreaks 
by helping food companies develop a national strategy to protect our 
food supply and allow the FDA greater access to facility records in a 
food safety emergency.
  Currently, the FDA does not have the resources to conduct annual 
inspections at the more than 150,000 food processing plants and 
warehouses in the country. Our bill requires annual inspections at 
facilities that pose the greatest risk to the American public and will 
go a long way toward ensuring the protection of our Nation's food 
supply. Think of it. Something such as a peanut butter facility, they 
don't think they are ever going to be inspected, no one is going to be 
looking, so they don't have that incentive every year to improve their 
food processing capability. They don't have that incentive. They don't 
worry that anyone is watching over their shoulder because they are not.
  This bill also takes steps to improve our capacity to detect and 
respond to foodborne illness outbreaks, but I believe there is still 
more that can and should be done. That is why, along with Senator 
Chambliss, I have introduced the Food Safety Rapid Response Act.
  This legislation focuses on the Centers for Disease Control, as well 
as State and local capability for responding to foodborne illnesses. 
The recent outbreaks demonstrate that there needs to be better 
coordination when responding to a food safety crisis. This legislation 
seeks to make these much needed improvements.
  In the case of both the jalapeno pepper outbreak last year and the 
peanut butter outbreak earlier this year, people had been getting sick 
for months before an advisory was issued. The breakthrough in 
identifying the sources of contamination didn't come from the Centers 
for Disease Control. Neither did the jalapeno pepper case, identified 
first as tomatoes, or the peanut butter case. It didn't come from the 
CDC or from the FDA, and it didn't come from the National Institutes of 
Health.

  The breakthrough in both outbreaks came from the work of the 
Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of 
Agriculture, as well as collaborative efforts with the University of 
Minnesota School of Public Health. This initiative has earned a 
remarkable national reputation.
  The Food Safety Response Act uses the exceptional work done in 
Minnesota as a national model for food safety. Why does someone have to 
get sick or die in Minnesota before a national outbreak is solved? They 
have a team of graduate students who work together under the 
supervision of the university and the department of health. They, 
together, figure out what is wrong. They make the calls together. They 
are like food detectives. Some people have called them ``team 
diarrhea.'' They figure out what is wrong, what goes on in other 
States. Sometimes a report in an individual county sits on a busy 
nurse's desk and they don't follow up on it for weeks and we are never 
able to piece together that information that figures out and solves the 
source of the outbreak.
  This bill would direct the CDC to enhance their foodborne 
surveillance systems to improve the collection, analysis, reporting, 
and usefulness of data on foodborne systems, including better sharing 
of information among Federal, State, and local agencies, as well as 
with the food industry and the public.
  Second, it would direct the CDC to work with State-level agencies to 
improve foodborne illness surveillance.
  Finally, this legislation would establish food safety centers of 
excellence. The goal is to set up regional food safety centers at 
select public health departments and higher education institutions. 
These collaborations would provide increased resources, training, and 
coordination for State and local officials. In particular, they would 
seek to distribute food safety ``best practices'' so other States can 
figure out how they can do this better so every food outbreak doesn't 
need to have someone get sick or die in Minnesota before it gets 
solved.
  Think about it. The two recent food outbreaks only got solved in one 
State. We have to use that model nationally.
  Dr. Osterholm, at the University of Minnesota, is a national food 
safety expert and is credited with the creation of the Minnesota 
program. He said the

[[Page S10659]]

creation of regional programs modeled on Minnesota ``would go a long 
way to providing precisely the real-time support for outbreak 
investigations at the State and local levels that is sorely needed.''
  At today's hearing, the Food Marketing Institute stated that the Food 
Safety Response Act would ``better coordinate foodborne illness 
surveillance systems and better support State laboratories in outbreak 
investigations with needed expertise.''
  In Minnesota, we also have the benefit of working with strong leaders 
in the food industry, including SuperValu, Hormel, General Mills, and 
Schwann's. Their leadership has helped set national standards for food 
safety and response to foodborne outbreaks. Public and private 
collaboration is essential to improving our food safety response 
system.
  The annual costs of medical care, lost productivity, and premature 
death due to foodborne illness is estimated to be $44 billion. There is 
a lot at stake--both in terms of life and money. I believe we can do 
better.
  As a former prosecutor, I have always believed the first 
responsibility of a government is to protect its citizens. When people 
get sick or die from contaminated food, the government must take 
aggressive and immediate action.
  Congress must improve the FDA and bring it into the 21st century. I 
believe, together, the Food Safety Rapid Response Act and Food Safety 
Modernization Act, which I have introduced with Senator Chambliss, will 
strengthen food safety in our country and ultimately save both lives 
and money. We owe it to the American people to act quickly and pass 
this legislation.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maryland is 
recognized.

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