[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22839]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                              FOOD SAFETY

  (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, I suspect that a lot of us become 
a little impatient in light of the terrorist threat, and I rise this 
morning with a little impatience to scold the United States Department 
of Agriculture, maybe request that they give consideration to a 
resolution that 30 of us introduced. That resolution, which is H. Con. 
Res. 258, called for more cooperation between the United States 
Department of Agriculture and HHS in the food inspection at our 
borders, the food products coming into the United States. There is a 
lot of overlap. We need better cooperation.
  If it is an open-face sandwich, one agency inspects it. If it is two 
slices of bread, another agency inspects it. If it is a burrito with 
cheese, then it is inspected by HHS. If it is a burrito with meat, then 
it is inspected by USDA. At this time we need better cooperation. I 
would request that USDA evaluate this and either act to make the 
difference or come up with support for this resolution.

                          ____________________