AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

(Senate - November 05, 2003)

AMENDMENT NO. 2088

Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 2673, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2004, that will help protect the health of the American public. This amendment would prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from utilizing funds under this Act to approve downed animals for human consumption. I thank Senators LEVIN, CANTWELL, and LIEBERMAN for cosponsoring this amendment.

Downed animals are livestock such as cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines that are too sick to stand or walk unassisted. Many of these animals are dying from infectious diseases and present a significant pathway for the spread of disease.

I commend USDA and livestock organizations for their efforts to address the issue of downed animals. However, I am deeply concerned about diseases such as BSE, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, more commonly known as mad cow disease, that pose a serious risk to the United States cattle industry and human health. A food inspection study conducted in Germany in 2001 found that BSE is present in a higher percentage of downed livestock than in the general cattle population. USDA stated that downed animals are one of the most significant potential pathways that have not been addressed in previous efforts to reduce risks from BSE. Stronger legislation is needed to ensure that these animals do not enter our food chain. My amendment prevents downed animals from being approved for consumption at our dinner tables.

On January 21st of this year, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposed rules in the Federal Register asking for comments on reducing the risks of BSE from downed and dead livestock. In the proposed rules, USDA acknowledges that downed animals serve as a potential pathway for the spread of BSE. Currently, before slaughter, USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) diverts downer livestock that exhibit clinical signs associated with BSE or other types of diseases until further tests may be taken. However, this does not mean that downed livestock cannot be processed for human consumption. If downer cattle presented for slaughter pass both the pre- and post-inspection process, meat and meat by-products from such cattle can be used for human consumption. Routinely, BSE is not correctly distinguished from many other diseases and conditions that show similar symptoms. This was demonstrated by the surveillance of a similar inspection process in Europe, showing that the process is inadequate for detecting BSE. Consequently, BSE-infected cattle can be approved for human and animal consumption.

Although USDA increased the number of cattle tested for BSE from 5,200 during the year 2001 to 19,990 in the year 2002, this still represents less than one percent of the industry that is tested. Of the 5,200 cattle tested for BSE in fiscal year 2001, approximately 87 percent of the animals targeted for testing were downed. Today, USDA has increased its efforts to test approximately 10 percent of downed cattle per year for BSE. It is interesting to note, however, that Japan currently tests each of its 1.3 million beef cattle slaughtered annually for BSE. While I am not asking the industry and Federal Government to test every slaughtered cow, I am asking the Federal Government to address and reduce the real risks associated with BSE and similar diseases in the U.S.

Some individuals fear that my amendment would place an excessive financial burden on the livestock industry. I want to remind my colleagues that one single downed cow in Canada diagnosed with BSE this year shut down the world's third largest beef exporter. It is estimated that the Canadian beef industry lost over $1 billion as a result of the discovery of BSE and more than 30 countries banned Canadian cattle and beef. As the Canadian cattle industry continues to recover from its economic loss, it is prudent for the United States to be proactive in preventing BSE and other animal diseases from entering our food chain.

We must protect our livestock industry and human health from diseases such as BSE. My amendment reduces the threat of passing diseases from downed livestock to our food supply. USDA only tests a small sample of downed animals for diseases. This is not enough. My amendment ensures downed animals will not be used for human consumption. It also requires higher standards for food safety and protects human health from diseases and the livestock industry from economic distress.

I urge my colleagues to support this important amendment.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, it would be my intention on this side to accept this amendment.

Mr. AKAKA. I ask my amendment be set aside momentarily and we return to it at a future time.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has not formally sent up the amendment.

Mr. BENNETT. I assumed we would go to the amendment from the Senator from Washington.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii has not sent his amendment to the desk.

Without objection, the pending amendments are set aside.

The clerk will report.

The legislative clerk read as follows:

The Senator from Hawaii [Mr. AKAKA], for himself, and Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieberman, and Ms. Cantwell, proposes an amendment numbered 2088.

The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To restrict funding for the approval for human consumption of meat produced from downed animals)

On page 79, between lines 7 and 8, insert the following:

SEC. 7__. PROTECTION OF DOWNED ANIMALS.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act to pay the salaries or expenses of employees or agents of the Department of Agriculture may be used to approve for human consumption under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines that are unable to stand or walk unassisted at an establishment subject to inspection at the point of examination and inspection, as required by section 3(a) of that Act (21 U.S.C. 603(a)).

Mr. BENNETT. I ask unanimous consent that this amendment be set aside.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, quick housekeeping.

AMENDMENT NO. 2088

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we go back to the Akaka amendment.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. BENNETT. I call for a vote on the Akaka amendment.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate, the question is on agreeing to amendment No. 2088.

The amendment (No. 2088) was agreed to.

Mr. BENNETT. I move to reconsider the vote and I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.