[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 651-652]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING

  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, yesterday, along with my colleagues 
Senators Johnson, Thomas, Thune, Bingaman, and Dorgan, I introduced a 
bill on country-of-origin labeling. The bill would accelerate the date 
of implementation of mandatory COOL, and expand labeling requirements 
to include processed foods.
  Country-of-origin labeling is probably one of the most important 
issues for cattle producers in Montana. They raise the best beef in the 
world, and they are proud of that. They want the American consumer to 
know that beef in the freezer case is ``Made in the U.S.A''.
  Of course, I have supported country-of-origin labeling for many 
years, and I was glad to see it finally pass in 2002 when we passed the 
2002 farm bill. But since then, there have been some folks who won't 
rest until they dismantle the program. The implementation has been 
delayed, writing the rules has been delayed--well, I say enough is 
enough. Mandatory COOL is the law of the land. Let's get it 
implemented.
  We need to get the country-of-origin labeling done. It needs to be 
done right, and it needs to be mandatory. Getting it done right is the 
key. I have a concern with the COOL law currently on the books. My 
legislation begins to fix one part of that law.
  Right now, very little beef will actually be labeled in the grocery 
stores. The law excludes over half of the beef sold in this country. 
``Processed foods'' includes a big portion of the beef products you and 
I are used to: Beef jerky, sausage, marinated foods--all of these items 
would be excluded under the current COOL law. I want to see that fixed, 
and that is what my bill will do. But I do not want mandatory COOL to 
be delayed any longer. That is why my legislation will implement the 
mandatory COOL law, as it is written, 1 year ahead of what the current 
law says, and then direct USDA to work on including processed foods.
  Let me be clear. I want to see COOL done right, but under no set of 
circumstances do I support rolling back country-of-origin labeling. 
COOL needs to be mandatory. We have tried a voluntary program for 2 
years. No one has participated. It is time for the packers and the 
processors to realize that Montana's cow/calf producers want labeling. 
They want to tell consumers where

[[Page 652]]

their beef comes from. I support that. I have pushed for mandatory COOL 
for years, and I will continue to do so in this Congress.

                          ____________________