[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1182-1183]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SAFETY OF SLAUGHTER FACILITIES

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, today I wish to highlight a recent 
undercover video produced by the Humane Society of the United States. 
This video displays the appalling methods used by employees at the 
California-based Hallmark Meat Packing Company during the processing of 
cattle, as well as the unacceptable state of USDA's oversight of meat 
packing operations.
  The video documents horrifying scenes of employees using electrical 
prods to shock animals, pulling them with chains, and carelessly 
driving over them with a forklift in an effort to bring sick or injured 
cows to their feet. These cruel actions amount to nothing less than 
torture. There was even a case of using a hose to forcibly spray water 
into a cow's nose to get it to rise to its feet to avoid the sensation 
of drowning.
  Currently, the State of California has laws in place that 
specifically prohibit the kinds of activities taking place at Hallmark. 
In addition, because of the health hazards associated with so-called 
``downer'' cattle, which are those unable to stand and walk due to 
either injury or illness, USDA in 2003 passed a regulation prohibiting 
the processing of such animals. According to USDA's own reports, there 
is a much higher incidence of mad cow disease in these animals, and 
they are also much more susceptible to pathogens like E. coli and 
salmonella.

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  The actions of this slaughterhouse, and possibly countless others, in 
violation of established laws, have put our most vulnerable and 
important assets in danger our--children. The animals processed by this 
facility are supplied to the Westland Meat Company, which is the 
second-largest provider of beef to USDA's Commodity Procurement Branch. 
This arm of USDA distributes the meat to needy families and also to 
more than 100,000 schools across America through the National School 
Lunch Program. I shudder when I think of how many other of the Nation's 
6,200 slaughterhouses could be evading oversight and endangering the 
lives of countless Americans.
  The two daily scheduled USDA inspections at the Hallmark facility are 
obviously no deterrent to the abhorrent practices being performed 
there. In fact, the very short and superficial nature of the 
inspections serve to encourage workers to do anything they can to bring 
a sick animal to its feet just long enough to pass inspection before 
being slaughtered.
  In order to ensure the safety of our Nation's food supply, ensure 
animals are treated humanely and with respect, and protect our families 
and children from possible life-threatening illnesses, we must act. 
Atrocities such as those exposed by the Humane Society must be swiftly 
abolished, and effective oversight measures put in place immediately.
  USDA needs to shore up inspections, hold slaughterhouses accountable 
and uphold food safety standards, and ensure that cattle and dairy 
farmers are aware that nonambulatory cattle will not be accepted for 
processing. It is also imperative that we, Congress, ensure that downer 
livestock is unable to enter our food chain, and the best way to 
accomplish this task is to codify the prohibition of downer livestock 
from entering our food supply.
  I introduced S. 394, the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection 
Act, to fill a gap in the current USDA and the Food and Drug 
Administration regulations. It calls for the humane euthanization of 
nonambulatory livestock. The euthanization of nonambulatory livestock 
would remove this high-risk population from the portion of livestock 
reserved for our consumption. Due to the presence of other prion 
diseases found throughout other species of livestock, all animals that 
fit under the definition of livestock are included in this bill.
  The benefits of my bill are numerous, for both the public and the 
industry. On the face of it, the bill will prevent needless suffering 
by humanely euthanizing nonambulatory animals. The removal of downed 
animals from our food chain will insure that it is safer and of better 
quality. The reduction in the likelihood of disease would result in 
safer working conditions for persons handling livestock. This added 
protection against disease would help the flow of livestock and 
livestock products in interstate and foreign commerce, making commerce 
in livestock more easily attainable.
  We must act now and call upon USDA to make the necessary changes to 
ensure that the atrocities demonstrated at this slaughterhouse are not 
repeated elsewhere. In addition, I urge my colleagues to support 
passage of the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act.

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