[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 28 (Monday, July 15, 1996)]
[Pages 1201-1202]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

July 6, 1996

    Good morning. This holiday weekend we celebrate America's birthday 
and the values that hold us together as a community and a country. It's 
a time for family and fun, for games and fireworks and backyard 
barbecues. Tonight, smoke will curl over homes on nearly every block as 
millions of families gather around the grill for the most American of 
meals: hamburgers and hotdogs and barbecued chicken.
    Today I want to talk to you about the steps we're taking to make 
sure the food we cook in backyard barbecues is safe and wholesome. Our 
families have every right to expect the food they serve their children 
is safe. They have every right to expect the world's most bountiful food 
supply will also be the world's safest. And, in fact, our food is very 
safe.
    Nearly a century ago, after muckrakers exposed dirty conditions in 
meat-packing plants, we made a national commitment to protect the public 
from unsafe food. It was one of the first ways we came together to meet 
the challenges of that new industrial age. Last year, we put in place 
new safety precautions for seafood. And in recent years, we've learned 
that we all must continue to be vigilant on meat and poultry safety, and 
we learned it the hard way. For every year, scores of Americans still 
die and tens of thousands become sick from eating meat or poultry that 
is contaminated with harmful bacteria.
    We all remember how in 1993 tragedy struck hundreds of families in 
the Western United States. Undercooked hamburgers served in a fast food 
restaurant were contaminated with a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria. 
Five hundred people became ill and four children died.
    The parents of many of the E. coli victims turned their grief into a 
determination to help others. Some of them are here with me today. In 
the face of this unspeakable tragedy, they had one insistent question: 
How could this have happened? I asked that question too, and I asked my 
administration, what can we do to prevent it from happening again?
    Now, sometimes food makes us sick because it's undercooked. But 
sometimes, families have been exposed to illnesses because some meat and 
poultry shipped to our supermarket shelves contained invisible and 
deadly bacteria. The reason was shocking and simple: For all our 
technological advances, the way we inspect meat and poultry had not 
changed in 90 years. Even though we know that killers such as salmonella 
can only be seen with a microscope, inspectors were still checking on 
meat and poultry by look, touch, smell. We relied on an overworked cadre 
of Government inspectors, rather than working with the industry and 
challenging it to keep food safe.
    Under the direction of Vice President Gore and Secretary Glickman, 
the United States Department of Agriculture has worked with industry, 
scientists, farmers, parents, and consumers to completely revamp our 
meat and poultry inspection system, to revolutionize the way our Nation 
protects food safety. This morning, I want to announce the major changes 
that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will take to keep food safe and 
to protect our children from deadly bacteria.
    First, we're challenging every meat-packing plant in America to do 
scientific tests or take other safety precautions at every step of 
production. Each company must design and put in place its own tough 
plan. We're not imposing a detailed list of do's and don'ts. We're 
working with industry as partners, challenging them to find ways to make 
our meat the safest it can be. Each plant will be held accountable for 
meeting high standards at every step of the process. Second, we're 
insisting that every slaughterhouse begin to

[[Page 1202]]

conduct rigorous scientific tests to make sure the meat is not 
contaminated with deadly strains of E. coli and salmonella bacteria. 
Third, companies will have to improve their sanitation procedures. All 
too often, food is contaminated because simple sanitary rules are not 
followed.
    All these changes will be phased in over the coming months to make 
sure they are done right. These new meat and poultry contamination 
safeguards will be the strongest ever. They are flexible, and they do 
challenge the private sector to take responsibility. They also use the 
most up-to-date science to track down invisible threats. They protect 
the public without tangling business in redtape.
    Parents should know that when they serve a chicken dinner they're 
not putting their children at risk. Parents should know that when a 
teenager borrows the car to get a fast food hamburger, the hamburger 
should be the least of their worries. Our new food safety initiative 
will give families the security to know that the food they eat is as 
safe as it can be.
    To be sure, parents will also still have to take responsibility. 
There is no way to make food entirely free from risk; nature simply 
won't let us. So everyone should follow warning labels, be careful how 
you handle raw meat and poultry, and make sure it's well cooked before 
you serve it to your family.
    These days families have enough to worry about. They shouldn't have 
to fear the food they eat is unsafe. With the tough steps we're taking 
today, America's parents should be able to breathe a little easier.
    Have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the 
White House.