The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“INTRODUCING A BILL TO AMEND THE FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION ACT AND THE POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E272-E273 on Feb. 28, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
INTRODUCING A BILL TO AMEND THE FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION ACT AND THE
POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT
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HON. TOM UDALL
of new mexico
in the house of representatives
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Unsafe Meat and Poultry Recall Act of 2008, a bill to amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and grant the Secretary of Agriculture the power to order the recall of meat and poultry that is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe.
The USDA announcement last week requesting a recall of 143 million pounds of beef from a slaughterhouse that is being investigated for unsafe practices makes clear the importance of bolstering the ability of the USDA to keep citizens safe from tainted meat products. In this instance, like most, the recalled beef had been distributed throughout the country, including to my State of New Mexico where the United States Department of Agriculture's Commodity Foods Program had sent 3,000 cases of the questionable beef to the state's Human Services Department to be distributed to school lunch programs.
It is imperative to the health and welfare of the American public that we bolster the regulation of the meat and poultry industry. The number of people affected annually from ingesting tainted meat and poultry products illuminates this proposition: 5,000 people die from food-borne illnesses each year. Furthermore, nearly 76 million people get sick annually from eating tainted food, of which 325,000 require hospitalization. In 2007 alone, there were 91 major food recalls.
The Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak of 1993 prompted the imposition of a new regulatory system on the meat and poultry industry designed to help eliminate future deadly food-borne illness outbreaks. The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program shifted the responsibility for ensuring meat safety from USDA inspectors to the meat companies themselves and instituted microbial tests for harmful bacteria. Since the implementation of the HACCP regulations, however, controversy has erupted over whether the new rules place too much power in the hands of the meat industry to regulate itself.
Due to the huge political clout of the meatpacking industry, USDA does not have, nor seem to want, the power to issue mandatory recalls of tainted meat and poultry products. Complying with agency recalls, therefore, is at the industry's discretion. The meat industry says that it has never failed to cooperate with a recall request from the USDA, thus mandatory recalls of tainted meat are not needed. However, when USDA asks for a recall, a negotiation process ensues between the agency and the industry. Meanwhile, thousands of people could continue to eat potentially harmful meat. This is not a trivial matter. This is meat that is potentially contaminated and could result in death. From the time that contaminated meat or poultry is identified, there should not be a negotiating period. It should be recalled.
This is a question of accountability. Somebody must be held responsible for the quality and safety of the meat we consume. The government must ensure that the meatpacking industry produces only safe meat products. My bill will facilitate this need by amending the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act. My bill authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to order the recall of meat and poultry that is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe or tainted from the market. The time has come for this necessary step.
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