[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16186-16187]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
                  RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 13, 2004

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4766) making 
     appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
     Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes:

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I am proud to serve on the Agriculture 
Appropriations Subcommittee, which provides funding that supports many 
of the most important segments of our economy--from farm to table; and 
the programs that create our food safety net. Given our current budget 
limitations, the Committee has done a good job with what little funds 
they had, but it is simply not enough.
  This bill leaves us with a serious shortfall in our effort to protect 
against bio-terrorism directed toward our food supply. The Committee 
provided just 40 percent of the total increase requested by both Food 
and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection 
Service (FSIS) to improve food security. Especially in light of the new 
homeland security warnings we have just heard from the Administration, 
this is a threat we cannot afford to ignore, but our growing budget 
deficit has left us without the funds to address issue.
  I am troubled that this bill reduces funding for the Women Infants 
and Children (WIC) program by about $150 million. This nutrition 
program serves our poorest women and children--it touches the lives of 
every 5 people in

[[Page 16187]]

the United States--and each dollar invested in the program saves more 
than three dollars in other government spending on programs such as 
Medicaid.
  Shortfalls in programs like WIC and in bio-security are the result of 
the fiscal irresponsibility of the Republican Leadership. Choosing to 
provide trillions of dollars of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans 
has left us faced with an increasingly broken food safety net, rising 
rural poverty, and potential bio-security threats for all.
  And so, Mr. Chairman, while I support this bill, I believe we can and 
should do better--for the sake of the health and security of every 
citizen in this country--young and old, rich or poor--this Congress has 
a moral obligation to do better.

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