    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [March 4, 1998]
    [Pages 326-327]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Supporting Legislation To Ensure the Safety of Imported Food
    March 4, 1998

        The President. Thank you very much for the terrific remarks. Let
    me--first I want to move Senator Mikulski's box. [Laughter]
        Senator Barbara A. Mikulski. I don't
    want it to be a public health hazard. [Laughter]
        The President. Put it on some of those little germs. [Laughter]
        Thank you, Senator Mikulski,
    Senator Kennedy, Congresswoman
    Eshoo, Congresswoman Millender-
    McDonald, and
    Congressman Pallone, thank you, sir. I'd
    also like to thank Secretary Shalala,
    Secretary Glickman, and Ambassador
    Barshefsky for the work they have done,
    and the Vice President for the work he has
    done on this issue over the last, now, more than 5 years.
        Last night I went to New York to the celebration of Time magazine's
    75th anniversary, and a number of us were asked to do portraits of
    heroic figures of the 20th century. I talked last night about Franklin
    Roosevelt, and we're in the Roosevelt Room here. But today I'm thinking
    more of Theodore Roosevelt, for it was Theodore Roosevelt at the
    beginning of this century who made an unprecedented national commitment,
    for that time, to protect America's families from unsafe food.
        It was at the dawn of the industrial age, when Americans were moving
    from farm to city, for the first time buying their food from other
    people instead of growing it themselves. Roosevelt ensured that for that
    time the rules we had made our food as safe as we could make it.
    President Roosevelt set a high standard nearly, now, a century ago. It
    has been a personal commitment of mine and of this administration to
    update that standard for the 21st century. As the world changes, new
    challenges arise, it takes new methods to do the old job right.
        The Vice President has told you about some things our administration
    has done to modernize food safety, to keep our food supply the safest in
    the world. I was literally stunned when I came here to find out that we
    were inspecting meat in the United States in the same way we had
    inspected it since 1910, and in the same way that dogs inspect it today,
    by smelling it and touching it. We're doing a little better now.
    [Laughter]
        But as has been made painfully apparent today by the remarks of our
    two Members of Congress and by you, ma'am,
    there is still a lot we still have to do to meet the challenges to food
    safety posed by new patterns of trade and commerce in food.
        It wasn't long ago that you could walk to the produce section of a
    grocery store, look around, and find no more than a dozen items that
    would be there all year round. Today, thanks to this global food market,
    it's not uncommon to find up to 400 varieties, almost all of them year
    around. You can get summer squash in the chill of winter and winter
    squash

    [[Page 327]]

    in the heat of summer now. And the farmer who grows these vegetables
    most likely no longer lives down the road from you. He might live across
    the ocean or on the other side of the world.
        It's more important than ever under these circumstances, now that
    we're getting the benefits of these new patterns, which are manifold,
    it's more important than ever that the food we eat be inspected and
    protected, from orchard to fruit basket, from farm to table, wherever
    the orchard or the farm may be. And when families join us--and millions
    and millions of Americans are joining us--as they walk through the
    produce section, we know that none of them should have to worry about
    where the food comes from or whether it's safe.
        Food safety really is part of the basic contract now between the
    consumers of our country and their Government. Any food that doesn't
    meet clear and strict standards should not come into the United States.
    It's that simple.
        Last fall, I announced a new initiative to ensure that fruits and
    vegetables coming from abroad are as safe as those grown here at home
    and to halt at the border or the dock any food that fails to meet those
    standards. I directed the Secretaries of Health and Human
    Services and Agriculture to report on our progress in improving food safety at
    home and abroad. This is their report; they've just given it to me
    before we came in here. It is a good and thorough one. It underscores my
    belief that while we have done a lot, more must be done, and we need the
    help of Congress to do more.
        The next important step to protect America's families from food-
    borne illnesses requires Congress to enact the bill introduced by
    Senator Mikulski, Senator
    Kennedy, and others in the Senate, by
    Representatives Eshoo, Pallone, and others in the House. This is not a political
    issue. It's not a Democratic or a Republican issue. It is simply an
    issue whose time has come. We are getting all the benefits of global
    agriculture. We have to rise to the challenges of the same trends. By
    giving the FDA the tools and the technology it needs, the legislation
    will give Americans the extra protection they deserve.
        At the beginning of the century, Theodore Roosevelt recognized that
    new challenges demand new Government, in this case, a Government that
    demands responsibility from industry and producers, but also provides
    clearer, stricter standards of safety and the means to enforce them. Our
    families enjoy the greatest bounty and variety of food in the world. We
    have to ensure that it will also be the safest food in the world.
        The 21st century will be interesting for many reasons. Among them
    will be the increasing variety of food from all over the world that all
    kinds of Americans will be able to buy in their neighborhood stores. It
    will be one more way that people, I hope, will have a more enjoyable
    life in the next century. It will only happen if the food is safe and
    people know it's safe, so they're not worried when they shop.
        Again, I want to join the Vice President, if I might in closing, in thanking the Senate for passing
    the bill yesterday to reduce the standard of drunk driving to .08. I
    think it's very important, it will save hundreds of lives a year. I hope
    the House will follow suit, and I hope that's an indication that these
    kind of public safety issues will be high on the agenda of Congress and
    that the bill that our Members who are here today are pushing so hard
    will find a speedy and positive reception in the Congress.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:03 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to Gloria Doyle, a victim of
    acute cyclospora food poisoning attributed to imported fruit in May
    1997, who introduced the President.