[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 23974]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN LABELING FOR MEATS AND VEGETABLES

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, in recent days there have been news 
reports about our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol Building 
deciding that they would like to get rid of something called country-
of-origin labeling for meats and vegetables. This is a law that has 
been previously enacted by the Congress saying that consumers have a 
right to know where their meat and vegetables come from. So a Member of 
the House and the Speaker of the House and the majority leader of the 
House have indicated they would like to find a way, in these waning 
days, perhaps in the Omnibus appropriations bill, to repeal the 
requirement to establish country-of-origin labeling for meat and 
vegetables.
  Country-of-origin labeling is now the law of the land. The Secretary 
of Agriculture has been dragging her feet for some long while in 
implementing it. While she was dragging her feet, the Congress decided 
to extend the time for implementation, so that time was extended over 
the objection of many of us. My colleagues, Senator Daschle, Senator 
Johnson, and many others here in the Chamber objected to that. But, 
nonetheless, it was done last year in one of these omnibus bills.
  If those who are making decisions about what to put in omnibus bills 
these days decide they want to repeal the country-of-origin labeling 
law in an omnibus bill this year, they will do a great disservice to 
American consumers. They will pull the rug out from under farmers and 
ranchers in our country. Why? Because the fact is, we produce the 
highest quality food in the world.
  Consumers want to know where their food comes from. Almost any 
consumer in this country can take a look at his or her T-shirt or their 
shoes, and on the label it will say: Made in the U.S.A. Made in China. 
You will find out exactly where it was made. We know where shirts come 
from, and we know where shoes come from because it is all labeled. But 
meat is not labeled. The law requires it to be, but it is not at this 
point. So the question is, Will this law remain, and will it, in fact, 
be implemented, or will it not?
  We had a U.S. Department of Agriculture report about the condition of 
meat that has been imported into this country. And I would like to just 
show a couple of comments from that report. The report was talking 
about conditions inside a meatpacking plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. That 
plant in Mexico supplied raw beef to the American consumers. It had 
never been inspected and was finally inspected once. Here is what they 
found. They found:

       ``Shanks and briskets were contaminated with feces.''

  A U.S. Department of Agriculture official wrote of his tour of the 
plant:

       ``In the refrigerator a disease-condemned carcass was 
     observed ready for boning and distribution in commerce . . . 
     Paint and condensation from dirty surfaces were dripping on 
     the meat.''

  The official found that workers were literally walking on the beef 
that was going to be approved for export to the United States. They 
found that a side of beef approved for processing was infected with 
bacterial blood infection.
  The problem is not limited to the Mexican plants. This is one plant 
in Mexico. Incidentally, this plant was shut down, then reopened under 
another name, and to my knowledge has never again been inspected.
  Mr. President, by unanimous consent let me ask to show this piece of 
beef from a supermarket.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, no one knows where this comes from. No 
Member of the Senate will know where this originated. Did this come 
from the Mexican plant I just described? Does it come from a French 
plant that was also inspected and contaminated? Does this come from one 
of those plants, or does it come from a domestic source in this country 
in which inspection, we know, is rigorous? Does it come from a domestic 
source where we have farmers and ranchers who produce the best supply 
of meat available in the world? Where does this piece of beef 
originate? No one knows. Consumers deserve to know. They have a right 
to know.
  The country-of-origin labeling requirement passed by the Congress 
will give them the opportunity to know, but some of our colleagues 
around here, hailing the call of the big packing plants and others, 
decide now they want to try to repeal that. Maybe, just once, this 
place can stand up on the side of farmers and ranchers and consumers, 
just once, and ignore the call of the bigger economic interests who 
say: Let's not do this. We clearly should do this.
  Labeling is important. Labeling empowers consumers. Labeling protects 
American producers who are producing the best quality food at the 
lowest disposable income of any country in the world. So my message to 
those who are now sauntering around the Chambers watching this Omnibus 
appropriations bill be put together is this: It would be a very foolish 
mistake to believe that the Omnibus appropriations bill should, without 
any debate, carry a provision that would repeal something Congress has 
already done that will give people the right to understand where their 
meat and vegetables come from, where the origination point is for the 
vegetables and the meat that is being consumed by the American people.
  If, in fact, the majority party decides to do this--as I indicated, 
one Member of the U.S. House especially is proposing it. It has been, 
it is reported, supported by the Speaker of the House and the majority 
leader of the House. If they move in this direction, it will be a very 
serious mistake, in my judgment.

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