[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18631]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           LISTEN TO SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS; NOT FEAR PROFITEERS

  (Mr. SMITH of Michigan asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, the American taxpayer is making a 
considerable investment in research through the spending of Congress 
and the President. Part of the research that I am particularly 
interested in is the basic plant genome research.
  Current sequencing efforts on the Arabidopsis plant has allowed us to 
understand the plant gene and our ability to modify plants, with the 
potential of tremendously helping mankind throughout the world. We now 
have the ability to select one or two or a few genes, whose 
characteristics have been determined, and incorporate those genes into 
another plant to improve the nutrient digestibility, to improve the 
vitamins, to improve the needed minerals, to create the desease 
immunization values of that particular food product.
  We are now faced with what I call fear profiteers that are spreading 
the word of fear to stymie research. My message this morning is that we 
have to rely on scientific information as we pursue our scientific 
endeavors and not allow emotion and fear profiteers to determine the 
destiny of research and scientific achievement in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, the payoffs from plant genome research will depend in 
large part on our ability to capture and apply the benefits from it. 
Congress should support the goals of the plant genome research. The 
National Plant Genome Initiative is a well-managed public asset that 
represents a wise use of taxpayer dollars.
  Current sequencing efforts on Arabidopsis thaliana have improved 
immeasurably our understanding of the genomics of a typical flowering 
plant. The shift in emphasis from gene sequencing to functional 
genomics is the logical next step that should provide the intellectual 
basis for new varieties of commercially-important crops and other 
plants.
  NSF, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the other 
participants in the plant genome program have done a credible job of 
making the results of the research it funds available to other 
researchers and the private sector. Partnerships among universities 
participating in the program, agricultural experiment stations, and 
private-sector companies also have been developed.
  These efforts should be encouraged further, and more formal 
structures concentrating research efforts in plant genomics, plant 
breeding, and agricultural extension should be considered to attract 
increased private sector participation and get new varieties to the 
field sooner. To that end, I would hope that the plant genome and gene 
expression centers pilot program authorized in H.R. 3500, through its 
matching-funds requirement, will be used by NSF to encourage greater 
participation of other federal agencies, particularly USDA, and the 
private sector in accelerating the development of enhanced food crops, 
particularly those that provide nutritional or health benefits to 
consumers, and for alternative uses of agricultural crops.
  Please join me this Thursday at a press and staff briefing on 
biotechnology and ``Fear Profiteers.'' A timely discussion of the 
importance of sound science in policy approaches to biotechnology, 
other areas of science and case studies of organizations and businesses 
that sow health scares to reap membership and/or monetary gain. 
September 21, 2000, 11:30-12:30 p.m., 1302 Longworth Building, 
Representative Nick Smith (R-MI); Fred Smith, Competitive Enterprise 
Institute; Bonner Cohen, Ph.D., Lexington Institute; Alex Avery, Hudson 
Institute; Emceed by Steve Milloy, Publisher of junkscience.com.

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