    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [January 25, 1997]
    [Pages 75-76]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    January 25, 1997

        Good morning. Today I'm pleased to announce a major new step toward
    protecting the health and safety of all Americans, especially our
    children.
        Almost a week ago, in my Inaugural Address, I told the American
    people that we must lead our country into the 21st century with the
    American dream alive for all our children, with the American promise of
    a more perfect Union a reality for all our people, with the light of our
    freedom illuminating all the world.
        I believe we will make this vision real by doing what we've always
    done in moments of great change--holding fast to our enduring values.
    Central among these is the belief that we work tirelessly to make our
    families stronger and our children safer. Nothing is more important to
    meeting this goal than seeing to it that Americans live in a world with
    clean air, safe food, pure water. Hard-working American parents deserve
    the peace of mind that comes from knowing that the meal they set before
    their children is safe.
        That's why I was so concerned by what happened in Washington State
    and in two other Western States this fall. Apple juice contaminated with
    a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria reached supermarket shelves. More
    than a dozen children, some as young as 2, were hospitalized, and one
    child died.
        I'm sure just about every parent in America remembers what E. coli
    can do. Four years ago this month, tragedy struck hundreds of families
    in the Western United States when they took their children to fast-food
    restaurants that served them hamburgers tainted by the E. coli bacteria.
    Five hundred people became ill, some of them severely, and four children
    lost their lives.
        Our administration has made it a top priority to protect the health
    and safety of all Americans. I signed into law legislation to keep
    harmful pesticides off our fruits and vegetables and legislation that
    keeps our drinking water safe and pure. We put in place strong new
    protections to ensure that seafood is safe. And last summer we announced
    steps to modernize our meat and poultry food safety system for the first
    time in 90 years. These new safety rules will begin to take effect next
    week. From now on, all meat and poultry plants will be required to test
    for E. coli.
        We have built a solid foundation for the health of America's
    families. But clearly we must do more. No parent should have to think
    twice about the juice that they pour their children at breakfast or a
    hamburger ordered during dinner out. That's why today I'm announcing new
    steps to use cutting-edge technology to keep our food safe and to
    protect our children from deadly bacteria. We must continue to modernize
    the food safety system put in place at the dawn of the 20th century so
    that it can meet the demands of the 21st century.
        First, we will put in place a nationwide early warning system for
    food-borne illness. Right now the Centers for Disease Control, the Food
    and Drug Administration, and the Agriculture Department sponsor five
    centers across the country whose mission is to post a lookout for food-
    borne diseases like E. coli bacteria and salmonella. Working with State
    and local governments, these sentinel sites in California, Oregon,
    Minnesota, Georgia, and Connecticut actively track outbreaks of
    illnesses caused by contaminated food. Today I'm announcing we'll
    increase the number of these sites from five to eight and link them to
    other State health agencies. This expanded early warning system will
    enable us to catch outbreaks sooner and give us the data we need to help
    us prevent outbreaks from happening in the first place.
        Second, we will see to it that the early warning system uses state-
    of-the-art technology to keep our food safe. We'll increase the number
    of expert disease detectives to investigate and control food-borne
    disease outbreaks. We will give these experts the technology to use
    sophisticated new DNA fingerprinting methods to trace dangerous bacteria
    to their source. We will create a permanent DNA fingerprint library so
    we can immediately recognize an illness if it reappears. And we will use
    advance communication networks to speed outbreak information to
    hospitals and public health agencies all around America.
        Third, I'm directing Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman,
    Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and the
    Administrator

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    of the Environmental Protection Agency, Carol Browner, to work with
    communities, farmers, businesses, consumer protection groups, and all
    levels of Government to come up with additional measures to improve food
    safety. I want them to pay special attention to research and public
    education efforts. I want them to focus on what sort of partnerships the
    Government can form with the private sector to meet our goals. And I
    want them to report back to me with their findings within 90 days.
        Finally, let me add that these new public health investments are
    paid for, line by line, dime by dime, in the balanced budget I will
    officially send to Congress next month. With this new early warning
    system to track food-borne illness, we are saying loud and clear that we
    will use the world's best science to make the world's most bountiful
    food supply safer than ever before for our families and for our
    children. Together we will see to it that our people and our Nation are
    prepared for the 21st century.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 1:26 p.m. on January 24 in the
    Roosevelt Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on January
    25.