[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 135 (Thursday, July 30, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4615-S4616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act
Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I rise today to urge the Senate to include
the New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act in a COVID-19
response legislation that we are considering during this work period.
This is legislation I have worked on with my colleague Senator Angus
King of Maine for several years, long before COVID-19 disrupted the
safety and security of the American food supply. It has bipartisan
support.
COVID-19 revealed the cracks in multiple industries--our food supply,
pharmaceuticals, defense, and manufacturing in general. Every American
pays the price for foreign reliance--every American. This is a moment
in history when we can rebuild what ``American made'' and what ``made
America great'' really means in the first place. That, of course, is
American production and innovation across all industries.
As consumers of food--and that is everybody, Republican and Democrat
alike, Independents included--we should demand that we have this
production capacity in the United States. Heavy reliance on foreign
production and manufacturing is a mistake, and America needs to see a
renaissance of American production and ingenuity.
Just as an example, on July 29 of this year, it was announced that
JBS, a Brazilian-owned company, intends to acquire the Mountain States
Rosen lamb plant in Greeley, CO. It has been reported that JBS will
grind hamburger and cut steaks, which, unfortunately, will eliminate
the ability of this plant to process nearly 350,000 lambs within the
United States. This is yet another example of a foreign company working
to consolidate and to integrate the American food supply system to the
detriment of U.S. ag producers. We just simply can't sit here and watch
this occur on our watch. We are already paying the price of foreign
ownership in our food supply system today.
The time is now to aggressively pursue American options for
production and processing in order to protect American consumers and
our entire economy.
Right now, we are actually giving an unfair and unnecessary advantage
to the large, sometimes foreign-owned, meat processing facilities.
These large facilities typically pursue licensing through the USDA
Federal meat inspection process, which gives them a certification
allowing them to sell across all State lines. However, smaller
processors that are trying to inject competition into a market which is
dominated by primarily big players, typically pursue State-inspected
certifications, which, unfortunately, today, do not allow them to sell
meat across State lines. The irony is that the State processors that
are out there also need to be federally approved to meet or exceed
these Federal inspection standards. So our smaller meat processors are
achieving a certification of equal or higher standards but are given a
license with less ability to market their product. They have to stay
within the boundaries of the State in which they are produced.
In my hometown of Fort Pierre, SD, a beef processing company was
announced to be opening in May of this year, 2020. This is the kind of
American production we want to see more of. But if this processor
chooses to pursue a State-inspected meat license instead of a USDA
license, they will not be able to sell across State lines, even though
South Dakota's meat poultry inspection program has standards that meet
or exceed Federal inspection standards. This is unacceptable and is
harming our small American processors' ability to compete fairly.
This is why we should include the New Markets for State-Inspected
Meat and Poultry Act in our next COVID-19 relief legislation.
In recent months, partially due to the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has
had on our meat processing facilities, we have seen renewed support for
this particular effort. In the Senate, we now have 12 cosponsors from
both sides of the aisle. Additionally, there was companion legislation
which was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative
Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
I would like to explain what our legislation does and why it is so
important to include it as part of the Federal Government's response to
COVID-19. The New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act
would allow meat that has been inspected by a federally approved State
meat and poultry inspection program to be sold across State lines.
Currently, cattle, sheep, and swine that are raised in South Dakota
by some of the best producers in the world and inspected at a South
Dakota processing facility are limited to markets within the State. Yet
they meet or exceed Federal inspection standards. It just doesn't make
sense, especially when there is high demand for locally sourced and
processed proteins in a
[[Page S4616]]
State-approved facility, which, by Federal law has standards that meet
or exceed Federal inspection standards.
Our legislation would allow these products, which pass State
inspection standards, to be sold across State lines, opening up new
markets for producers and giving consumers greater choice at the
grocery store. At a time when our food supply is in danger, this is a
very easy first step.
Like so many sectors of our economy, the food production industry was
ill-prepared for the unprecedented changes that needed to be made when
the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Labor shortages and worker protection
measures slowed down plants around the country, and outbreaks even
caused some of the facilities to shut down entirely.
We saw this happen in my home State of South Dakota, where our Sioux
Falls Smithfield plant processes 20,000 hogs a day and employs
approximately 35 hard-working individuals. At the peak of the crisis,
hog processing dropped approximately 40 percent in May, and beef
production dropped approximately 35 percent in May, when compared to
2019 production levels across the United States. At one point, there
was a backlog of nearly 1 million cattle ready to be processed.
Meanwhile, grocery stores across the country began to see meat
shortages on their shelves because of the chokepoint found in the
concentration of beef processing at the big four packers, where
processing capacity had been curtailed. Livestock producers were faced
with one of the worst scenarios they could face--having to euthanize
their animals because they weren't able to get them into a processing
facility. While we have been able to recover some of the production
capacity since that time, it is far from being back to normal, and we
are still unprepared to deal with the continuing pandemic.
While we work to get meat and pork processing facilities back up and
running at capacity, we should also be utilizing State-based solutions
to help offset the backlog and help provide additional capacity.
Specifically, we should include the New Markets for State-Inspected
Meat and Poultry Act in the next relief package.
Currently, 27 States operate State meat inspection programs. Meat and
poultry inspected at these facilities are already sold for public
consumption in the States where they are licensed.
Today, if you have meat or poultry processed at a South Dakota
inspection facility in Hudson, SD, you wouldn't be able to sell it
across the border just a few miles away in Iowa, but you could sell it
a couple hundred miles away in Lemmon, SD.
It really doesn't make much sense, especially since State meat and
poultry inspection facilities are required by law to be at least equal
to federally inspected processing facilities with regard to their food
safety standards.
These products are safe for consumption and should be allowed to be
sold nationwide. This will help offset the pressure on federally
inspected facilities during the ongoing pandemic and in the future as
well.
This is a commonsense solution that has bipartisan, bicameral
support. It is time to end this arbitrary regulation restricting the
sale of these products to within State lines and allow facilities
inspected by State meat inspection programs to increase production and
sell their product nationwide.
Including the New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act in
future COVID-19 relief legislation is good for producers and very good
for consumers.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 10
minutes when the afternoon votes are concluded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.