[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 190 (Tuesday, December 15, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H14945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ANIMAL ANTIBIOTICS

  (Mr. MORAN of Kansas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Madam Speaker, there are those in Congress who 
want to restrict antibiotic use in animal agriculture. They overlook 
the good these drugs do to improve both animal and human health. If 
animal antibiotics are restricted to only treatment of already sick 
animals, animal disease and death can be expected to increase, while 
decreasing the abundance and safety of our food supply.
  When Denmark banned antibiotics for growth promotion in pigs, animal 
deaths and disease rose, requiring the use of more drugs for 
therapeutic purposes. Meanwhile, there was no improvement in human 
health.
  Potential increases in the occurrence of food-borne illnesses in the 
absence of animal antibiotics are another concern. An Ohio State 
University study found that pigs raised outdoors without antibiotics 
had more exposure to food-borne pathogens than those raised in 
confinement.
  Use of animal antibiotics should be determined by a scientific, risk-
benefit analysis, not an arbitrary ban devised by politicians.

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