[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 24, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING MICHAEL GRAZIANO, FILMMAKER, AND THE DOCUMENTARY FILM 
                               RESISTANCE

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                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 24, 2015

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Michael 
Graziano and his extraordinarily talented team at Uji Films who have 
created a fantastic documentary called Resistance. Michael recently 
joined me along with a panel of experts on antibiotic resistance for a 
screening of Resistance in my district of Rochester, New York, to an 
amazing response. The film uses microscopic footage, harrowing personal 
stories and expert insight to delve into the history of antibiotic 
resistance, starting with the mass production of antibiotics 70 years 
ago and tracking the rise of superbugs into the 21st Century.
  Resistance does a tremendous job laying out the issues at hand, 
explaining that eighty percent of the antibiotics sold in this country 
are used on the farm, mostly with healthy animals to ``prevent 
disease,'' and how that impacts human health and modern medicine. The 
World Health Organization said in a recent report that antibiotic 
resistance is, ``a problem so serious that it threatens the 
achievements of modern medicine.'' In ten years, surgeries, procedures, 
and illnesses that rely on antibiotics could be fatal. Pulling your 
teeth. Hip replacements. These could all be rendered obsolete without 
antibiotics. Strep throat could be fatal.
  We must preserve medically important antibiotics for the treatment of 
humans, and for sick animals. That is exactly what my bill, the 
Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, or PAMTA, would 
do. Tomorrow I will reintroduce that bill for the fifth time.
  The American people need to understand that while I am fighting every 
day in Congress to highlight this issue, consumers, neighbors, doctors, 
and parents will be the ones who turn the tide of antibiotic 
resistance. Citizens taking a stand and asking grocery stores like 
Costco or fast food chains like McDonald's and Chick-Fil-A to sell meat 
and poultry raised without unnecessary antibiotics has made a 
difference. Resistance is making a difference. I urge my colleagues to 
join me in recognizing the film and the filmmakers for making an 
important contribution to fighting the public health crisis of our 
time.

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