[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21641-21645]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNIZING THE KANSAS CITY ANIMAL HEALTH CORRIDOR

  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 317) recognizing the region from Manhattan, Kansas, 
to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, and 
for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 317

       Whereas 34 percent of the $16,800,000,000 annual global 
     animal health industry is based in the Kansas City region;
       Whereas more than 120 companies involved in the animal 
     health industry are located in Kansas and Missouri, including 
     4 of the 10 largest global animal health companies and 1 of 
     the 5 largest animal nutrition companies;
       Whereas several leading veterinary colleges and animal 
     research centers are located in Kansas and Missouri, 
     including the College of Veterinary Medicine and the 
     $54,000,000 Biosecurity Research Institute of Kansas State 
     University and the College of Veterinary Medicine, the 
     College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources' Division 
     of Animal Sciences, the $60,000,000 Life Sciences Center, the 
     National Swine Resource and Research Center, and the Research 
     Animal Diagnostic Laboratory of the University of Missouri;
       Whereas Kansas City, Missouri, is centrally located in the 
     United States and is close to many of the food animal end 
     customers;
       Whereas the Department of Homeland Security selected 
     Manhattan, Kansas, as the future location for the National 
     Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF);
       Whereas the $750,000,000 NBAF project will provide area 
     economic development opportunities by employing 300 people, 
     with an annual payroll of up to $30,000,000 and over 1,500 
     construction jobs;
       Whereas NBAF enhances Kansas' leadership role in the Nation 
     as the animal health research and biosciences center for the 
     United States;
       Whereas more than 45 percent of the fed cattle in the 
     United States, 40 percent of the hogs produced, and 20 
     percent of the beef cows and calves are located within 350 
     miles of Kansas City;
       Whereas there are nationally recognized publishers in the 
     animal health industry located in Kansas and Missouri;
       Whereas Kansas and Missouri have historic roots in the 
     livestock industry, including the cattle drives in the 1860s 
     from Texas to the westward railhead in Sedalia, Missouri;
       Whereas Kansas and Missouri are home to many prominent 
     national and international associations within the animal 
     health industry; and
       Whereas retaining and growing existing animal health 
     companies, attracting new animal health companies, increasing 
     animal health research capacity, and developing 
     commercialization infrastructure will create quality jobs and 
     wealth for Kansas and Missouri: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes the region from Manhattan, Kansas, to 
     Columbia, Missouri, including the metropolitan Kansas City 
     area and St. Joseph, Missouri, as the ``Kansas City Animal 
     Health Corridor'';
       (2) recognizes the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor as 
     the national center of the animal health industry based on 
     the unmatched concentration of animal health and nutrition 
     businesses and educational and research assets; and
       (3) expresses its commitment to establishing a favorable 
     business environment and supporting animal health research to 
     foster the continued growth of the animal health industry for 
     the benefit of the economy, universities, businesses, and 
     young people hoping to pursue an animal health career in the 
     Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Holden) and the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
this resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 317. This 
resolution recognizes the contribution that the Kansas City Animal 
Health Corridor makes to our Nation's livestock industry. Regional 
efforts like this encourage businesses to innovate and use best 
practices developed by the bioscience industry.
  Livestock is an important value-added industry that brings in 
millions of dollars of revenue nationwide. Ensuring that producers have 
access to cutting-edge products and information to improve animal 
health is essential to the continuing success of the livestock 
industry. Our entire Nation benefits from having the most competitive 
livestock industry worldwide.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 317 to 
recognize the Corridor's outstanding contribution to animal health.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Holden) for 
his comments, and for the leadership of our Committee on Agriculture, 
Mr. Peterson and Mr. Lucas, for their support of this resolution, H. 
Res. 317.
  We consider this resolution today, which recognizes the region 
between Manhattan, Kansas, and Columbia, Missouri, a great opportunity 
for two States that are often rivals, to come together in recognition 
of the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.
  This area of Kansas and Missouri has long been considered our 
country's headquarters for animal and bioscience. The largest 
concentration of animal health and nutrition interests in the Nation is 
located in this corridor, including more than 120 companies that 
account for nearly $17 billion in global sales. This amounts to over 
one-third of the total sales in the animal health industry.
  Part of what makes this region unique is its location in one of the 
largest livestock-producing regions in the country. My own 
congressional district is the largest livestock-producing district in 
the Nation. The Kansas City Animal Health Corridor is a benefit to 
livestock producers in our region and to the country, and to the 
employment and investments these producers contribute to the local 
economy.
  Biosciences are a tremendous opportunity for our State and its 
citizens. As the national economy has struggled, the animal health 
industry continues to expand and experience growth. The businesses, 
universities, and other interests located in the Kansas City Animal 
Health Corridor provide an opportunity for our best and brightest young 
people to stay and work in Kansas and Missouri, the Midwest.
  Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security named this 
world-renowned area for animal health research as the home of the 
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, NBAF. This Federal laboratory 
is urgently needed to develop the vaccines and countermeasures against 
the threat of foreign animal disease, protecting our food supply and 
our economy. The Kansas City Animal Health Corridor will provide the 
workforce expertise and the collaboration opportunities to make NBAF a 
great success.
  I appreciate the House of Representatives recognizing the important 
role of

[[Page 21642]]

this region to furthering animal health and nutrition across the Nation 
and the globe. By supporting this resolution, we are helping to foster 
support for crucial research and business development in the animal 
health and science area.
  I urge my colleagues and Members to support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1345

  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I recognize for 5 minutes the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Stupak).
  Mr. STUPAK. I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 317 designates the region from Manhattan, 
Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health 
Corridor. Manhattan, Kansas, is slated to become the new home of the 
foot-and-mouth research in the United States as part of the National 
Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, NBAF as it's called. This is where my 
problem is with this resolution.
  Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious animal disease, 
infecting nearly 100 percent of the animals exposed to the virus. There 
have been two outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom 
this decade. The first resulted in the slaughter of more than 6 million 
animals, and it cost that country more than $16 billion. The second 
outbreak is suspected to have come from an accidental release from a 
government lab. It is estimated that a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak 
in the United States could cost as much as $40 billion, and it would 
devastate the U.S. livestock market.
  For more than 50 years, research on foot-and-mouth disease in the 
United States has been done off Plum Island, which is off the coast of 
New York's Long Island. The natural water barrier protects our animal 
population from an accidental or intentional release of the disease 
from the island research facility.
  House Resolution 317 states: ``More than 45 percent of the fed 
cattle--40 percent of the hogs and 20 percent of beef cows and calves 
produced in the United States--are located within 350 miles of Kansas 
City.''
  I am baffled as to why we would want to move the foot-and-mouth 
disease research into the heart of Kansas given these staggering 
statistics. An accidental or an intentional release of foot-and-mouth 
disease in this enormous beef and pork population would bring our 
livestock industry to its knees.
  As chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and 
Investigation Subcommittee, I held a hearing in the last Congress on 
the Bush administration's ill-conceived plan to move foot-and-mouth 
research off of Plum Island and onto the mainland of the United States.
  In response to my subcommittee's hearing, Congress required the 
Department of Homeland Security to conduct a study to determine if 
foot-and-mouth disease can be done safely on the mainland. DHS's study 
was then to be evaluated by the Government Accountability Office, GAO. 
DHS rushed through a study; and in July, GAO released their analysis of 
the DHS study. The GAO report found numerous flaws in the study, 
including that DHS did not use foot-and-mouth disease virus-specific 
modeling to study the impact of a release into a community. Instead, 
they used a modeling system for radiation.
  DHS's study was based on unrepresentative accident scenarios, 
outdated dispersion modeling techniques and inadequate meteorological 
data. The economic analysis did not incorporate market response to the 
foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, which would have been related to the 
number of livestock in the site's vicinity. DHS did not effectively 
characterize the differences in risk between mainland and island sites. 
DHS did not effectively integrate the components of its risk 
assessment.
  As you can see, the Government Accountability Office has significant 
concerns about this flawed DHS study. The GAO concluded that DHS did 
not meet the standards set forth by Congress to prove that foot-and-
mouth disease research can be done safely on the mainland. As a result, 
we've called for an independent third-party study to be conducted. This 
study would correct the problems outlined in the GAO study.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no problem with the gentleman from Kansas and 
with my friend from Pennsylvania in recognizing the area set forth in 
House Resolution 317 as the animal health corridor, but I really do 
have problems with moving foot-and-mouth disease research into the 
center of livestock production in the United States without any proof 
that it can be done safely. If the Department of Homeland Security is 
going to pursue this dangerous tempting of fate, I think the American 
people should have an accurate assessment of what economic devastation 
could befall us should there be a release of foot-and-mouth disease 
from this new facility in Manhattan, Kansas.
  Again, I understand where the gentleman is going, and I understand 
what he is trying to do to promote his State and to promote his area, 
but let's not rush to judgment here, especially when there are so many 
unanswered questions about whether this research can be done safely.
  If they want to recognize H. Res. 317 as the animal health corridor, 
I have no problem; but I'd ask that they strike the NBAF language, and 
then I would be able to support the legislation. As it stands right 
now, the way the legislation is written, I reluctantly would oppose it.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins).
  Ms. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 
317, recognizing the region from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, 
Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.
  From the days of cattle drives more than 150 years ago to the DHS 
selection of Manhattan, Kansas, as the location for the new National 
Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, Kansas and Missouri have long been 
leaders in the animal health and livestock industries.
  More than 120 animal health companies are located in Kansas and 
Missouri. The work these companies do enables ranchers to raise the 
safest and highest quality animals in the world. Not only are the 
majority of health companies located here, but there are leading 
veterinary colleges and state-of-the-art research centers, like the 
Biosecurity Research Institute at K-State, in the region.
  At a time when businesses are struggling to make a profit and at a 
time when our Nation is facing record unemployment, the animal health 
industry continues to grow. Fourteen animal health companies or 
organizations have expanded in this region since 2006. The new NBAF 
will provide hundreds of billions of dollars in economic development 
opportunities for Kansas. It will create hundreds of full-time jobs and 
1,500 construction jobs. That is the kind of economic stimulus our 
State needs. This resolution recognizes this region as a leader in 
animal health, and it supports the continued growth for the animal 
health industry.
  Again, I thank my colleagues for their support of this legislation, 
and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the dean of the House.
  Mr. DINGELL. I thank my dear friend from Pennsylvania for making 
available to me this time.
  I would tell my colleagues this is a dangerous bill, and I would urge 
them to be careful about what you say about it because, if ever the 
location of this facility in Kansas causes an outbreak of animal 
disease or human disease, your remarks today will make great quotes by 
your opponents against you in the following election.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this legislation recognizing the 
region from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas 
City Animal Health Corridor. It's a nice idea, but none of the work 
that has to be done under the National Environmental Policy Act or 
under other proper laws relating to the location of facilities of this 
kind has been fully and adequately

[[Page 21643]]

and properly done. So what we're doing is just getting ready to locate 
what, essentially, could be a fine time bomb in the area to which we 
refer in the legislation--certainly, a foolish action.
  The location of the current facility was picked because of its 
location off the shore of New York. It's on an island and it's 
isolated. Indeed, although in 1978 livestock on the island were 
infected after an accidental release of animal virus, the virus did not 
and could not reach the mainland. That is a warning to all here 
present.
  In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security, I must assume in its 
usual slovenly fashion, proposed to move the animal disease facility to 
the mainland. Within hearings in the oversight committee, chaired by 
Mr. Stupak, in the Energy and Commerce Committee, we learned from the 
committee that not only did DHS not adequately study the dangers of 
transferring foot-and-mouth disease onto the mainland but also that an 
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease would wreak havoc on the livestock 
industry, potentially costing $40 billion in economic damage.
  An outbreak of this disease in Britain caused $16 billion in damage, 
spurring an economic panic that almost shut down the government. Given 
the hundreds of billions of dollars at which our livestock industry is 
valued, an outbreak of FMD in the United States would be vastly more 
destructive.
  DHS has since selected Manhattan, Kansas, as the new location for the 
facility for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. The 
legislation, H. Res. 317, states that more than 45 percent of the fed 
cattle in the United States--40 percent of the hogs produced and 20 
percent of the beef cows and calves--are located in the Kansas City 
region.
  If you want a good warning as to why this legislation should not be 
adopted, that is it right there, because right in the middle of the 
greatest production of these kinds of animals, we are placing a 
facility that is going to handle--guess what--all manner of animal 
diseases, especially foot-and-mouth disease.
  There is careful, thoughtful work that needs to be done to ensure 
that the industry is safe and that our people are safe and that they 
can understand that their government has done the proper work that it 
has to do to ensure the safety of the facility and the proper design of 
the facility.
  Serious questions remain as to why the government needs to build the 
new NBAF in the first place; but, significantly, the fact that DHS 
continues to shirk its responsibilities to understand the risk of 
transferring the FMD to the mainland means that Congress must be very 
wary of sanctioning this new proposal regardless of the opportunities 
of the economic character that it might bring.
  I would just warn my colleagues--and I say this with affection for my 
good friend who is the author of the legislation--that this is an 
unwise step to take at this particular time. I would urge my colleagues 
to ask themselves, if they don't ask anything else: Where are we going 
to bury all of the animals that are going to get FMD that are going to 
have to be exterminated because we have made an unwise choice in this 
matter?
  I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing the resolution.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I now recognize the gentleman from Kansas 
(Mr. Moore) for 4 minutes.
  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, Kansas City has come a long way 
from the stockyards and animal shipping that put it on the map. Now 
it's also the hub of America's animal health industry.
  The Kansas City stockyards opened in the late 1800s, and quickly 
became one of the busiest animal ports in the country. The Kansas City 
Livestock Exchange was built in 1910 and became the largest building in 
the world dedicated solely to livestock. The tradition continues today 
as 45 percent of the country's feedlot-raised cattle and 40 percent of 
its hogs are found within a 350-mile radius of Kansas City.
  Over the years, the stockyards have attracted businesses specialized 
in animal food and medicine. Today, more than 125 companies involved in 
the animal health industry are located in the Kansas City metro region, 
including four of the 10 largest global animal health companies and one 
of the top five largest animal nutrition companies.
  Both Kansas State University and the University of Missouri are 
leading institutions in animal research. The University of Missouri is 
home to the prestigious National Swine Resource and Research Center and 
the Research Animal Diagnostic Laboratory. Kansas State is home to the 
Biosecurity Research Institute, the only facility of its kind in the 
world, which researches biosecurity hazards to our food supply and the 
containment of animal illness.
  Just this year, the Department of Homeland Security has also selected 
Kansas State as the future home of the National Bio and Agro-Defense 
Facility, a $750 million government investment, adding another 
component to Kansas' animal health resume. Most impressively, 34 
percent of the $16.8 billion generated each year by the global animal 
health industry is based in the Kansas City region.
  For these reasons, I would ask that people join me in acknowledging 
the Kansas City metro region--from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, 
Missouri--as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor. Kansas City is 
still a cow town, and we are proud to be the high-tech cow town of the 
21st century. I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 317.

                              {time}  1400

  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I point out to Members and my colleagues that the 
resolution before us simply is a resolution on suspension recognizing 
an area, a part in Kansas, part in Missouri, related to animal science.
  The whereas clauses do mention that a facility has been approved for 
a site in Manhattan, Kansas, by the Department of Homeland Security, 
but this legislation before us today does nothing to say that's 
necessarily a good idea or bad idea.
  From my perspective, it is clearly a good idea. As I said earlier, I 
represent a congressional district in which livestock feeding, 
livestock raising and livestock producing is the way of life. Perhaps 
our most important component of our agricultural economy is feeding 
cattle or raising the feed to feed cattle. Even a rumor of animal 
disease or food safety causes the price to plummet for what we raise in 
Kansas.
  It is important for us as an industry, and important for us as a 
State, but important for us as a Nation to develop a facility, a top-
notch, latest technology, most scientifically advanced research 
facility, to make certain that nothing happens to damage the safety of 
our food supply.
  What is happening on Plum Island is insufficient. It is not being 
rebuilt, it is not being expanded, and technology is not being 
improved. What we are talking about ultimately, although not in this 
resolution, what we are talking about is a decision by the Department 
of Homeland Security, both the Department from the Bush administration 
and the Department from the Obama administration, reaching a unanimous 
decision that a new facility to be built in the United States, 
competitively advanced, narrowed down to five States, a site ultimately 
chosen, unanimously chosen, and the message has been that the facility 
must be built, advances must be made, and science must advance the 
cause of animal safety. And the failure to do this, failure to move 
forward means that the risk we run is much greater than the risk if we 
fail to take this action.
  So today while we are here, in a sense, in a bit more ceremonial 
setting in which we are recognizing a set of businesses, industries and 
producers in a certain region of this country and naming it an animal 
health corridor, not here necessarily to debate the merits of NBAF, in 
my opinion, the location that has been chosen is the right one. Where 
else in the country would

[[Page 21644]]

you expect us to care more than in the middle of cattle country to make 
certain that we do it right? And what university would I respect more 
with their ability to resolve these issues in favor of a safe food 
supply and protecting the cattle producers of this country than Kansas 
State University, the companion to the site being selected in 
Manhattan, Kansas.
  So while we are here today on perhaps a different mission, I am happy 
to have the discussion about the merits of what the Department of 
Homeland Security decided in the last administration and what the 
Secretary of Homeland Security in this administration says is a firm 
commitment that this administration is standing strongly behind.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve balance of my time.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cummings). The gentleman from Kansas has 
12 minutes remaining.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt).
  Mr. TIAHRT. I thank the gentleman from Kansas for yielding and thank 
him for his leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I am a little puzzled why this discussion has come up 
this afternoon. This has been a long selection process to get NBAF to 
where it is located today.
  Many facilities were researched. They looked at it. They decided the 
best place in all of America, based on past history, based on facility, 
based on geography, based on the plan and place was to select 
Manhattan, Kansas.
  Now, we have the same similar lab research going on around America 
today and also in Canada. In fact, there are facilities at Fort 
Detrick, Maryland, very close here to Washington, D.C. It's considered 
safe even though the research there is somewhat as dangerous, if not 
more dangerous, to humans than what we are discussing today.
  We also have CDC laboratories in Atlanta, Georgia, and in other high-
population areas, places in Texas have similar research going on. But 
in Winnipeg, Canada, they have the very same research going on 70 miles 
from the United States border and in the cattle country of Canada, and 
yet there are no concerns.
  Now, the NBAF facility is going to be the same, whether you locate it 
in Kansas or Georgia or Texas or whether somebody else here would like 
to have it in their home district. We are going to have plans in place 
to make sure that this is a well-protected facility, a level 4 
security, BSL 4, as it is referred to. It is going to be safe, it's 
going to be effective, and it's going to provide the continuation of a 
low-cost, stable food supply that is marketable worldwide because of 
the safety research.
  So for us to put a red herring out there that this is not a safe 
facility or that there are some concerns, you know, this has been 
studied by DHS. They do have a preliminary plan in place, God forbid 
something should ever happen, but they are satisfied that this level 4 
facility is going to meet the requirements.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. I yield the gentleman an additional minute.
  Mr. TIAHRT. One point I would like to make is that in Kansas State we 
have been doing similar research for quite some time in the past 
decade, completely safe in a level 4 facility. We can start the 
beginning of this research today. The only thing that's really holding 
this up is this lack of funding, and there is something critical going 
on in the funding scheme. The Federal Government has promised to come 
up with 36 million. It's going to be matched by the State of Kansas.
  But if we delay the construction, we delay the protections that would 
be put in place. And it's very shortsighted for us to question, after 
the fact, all the research, all the decisions, the fairness in the 
process and the decision that was made.
  It was a good decision. It's the right location. We are going to move 
forward with this to protect our food supply and protect the people of 
America and make marketable agricultural products worldwide.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague from Kansas in urging 
adoption of the resolution.
  Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 317, a 
bill to recognize the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.
  In 1871, the first stockyard was opened in Kansas City and soon grew 
into one of the nation's premier livestock facilities. Kansas City's 
tradition of being a national leader in the agriculture sector 
continues today with the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, an area 
stretching from Manhattan, Kansas through Missouri's Fifth District to 
Columbia, Missouri.
  This region is home to more than 120 companies, including many of the 
nation's leading and largest animal health businesses. Sales of animal 
health products from companies located in the Kansas City Animal Health 
Corridor account for nearly a third of the global $16.8 billion dollar 
animal health and nutrition industry.
  Activities in the Animal Health Corridor are not limited to the 
commercial aspects of animal health. Four of our nation's top 
veterinarian schools are located within 350 miles of the Animal Health 
Corridor. In addition to these premier veterinarian programs, other 
schools in the Corridor offer programs focused on animal health 
training and specialized degrees such as a Masters in Business 
Administration in Animal Health. Animal health research is greatly 
advanced in the Corridor by the Kansas City Area Life Sciences 
Institute which offers grants of up to $50,000 for researchers to study 
diseases that have the ability to infect both humans and animals.
  The businesses, schools, and organizations in and around the Kansas 
City Animal Health Corridor are the national, if not global, leaders in 
the animal health research and production sectors and I am proud to 
have these institutions in my district and to support the Kansas City 
Animal Health Corridor. Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the 
area of Manhattan, Kansas to Columbia, Missouri as the Kansas City 
Animal Health Corridor.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to 
House Resolution 317, which would recognize the region from Manhattan, 
Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health 
Corridor.
  While I have no issues with the larger goals of the resolution--to 
recognize the work that is going on in Kansas and Missouri on animal 
health--I do take issue with the recognition of the Manhattan, Kansas 
site ``as the future location for the National Bio and Agro-defense 
Facility (NBAF).''
  I support moving the critical research activities of Plum Island onto 
the U.S. mainland. However, I, like many other Members, have grave 
concerns about the selection process that was utilized by the prior 
Administration to secure a site for the NBAF. I do not believe that the 
selection criteria were applied in a consistent manner. Accordingly, I 
have discomfort with the inclusion of the reference to the Manhattan, 
Kansas site in this resolution.
  Moreover, while I have no doubt that there is salutary work on animal 
health being conducted in Kansas and Missouri, I have some discomfort 
with the statement that the Kansas-Missouri corridor has ``unmatched'' 
capacity to support the animal health industry. There are certainly 
other areas around the Nation that have a great deal of capacity.
  For these reasons, I must vote ``no'' on the resolution.
  Mr. HOLDEN. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Holden) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 317.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

[[Page 21645]]



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