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The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, to make our communities livable, to make our families safe, healthy and economically secure, we must deal with the issues of food safety. 76 million Americans are ill every year from unsafe food, 325,000 are hospitalized, 5,000 die.

A century ago, Upton Sinclair's epic novel ``The Jungle'' exposed the scandal in America's meatpacking industry; and yet a century later, we still do not have it right.

Despite telling journalism and concerns from experts in food safety and animal welfare, the cattle industry and some of their key Congressional allies fight to continue allowing almost 200,000 unhealthy animals a year into our food supply. These animals are called ``downers'' because they are so sick they are unable to stand or walk. They are dragged to slaughter facilities around the country, and most of these sick animals end up in our food supply.

What difference does it make? Downed animals are often afflicted with many, sometimes fatal, illnesses. Sending these sick animals to slaughter facilities where they will mix with healthy animals is exceedingly dangerous.

Many afflicted animals that should have been euthanized at the farm were sent to auction markets and slaughter facilities where they could contaminate healthy animals.

A study of USDA slaughterhouse facilities in almost 1,000 packing plants in the northeast United States found that 73 percent of downed animals ended up passing inspection and entering the food chain. These animals had afflictions such as gangrene, lymphoma, hepatitis, and pneumonia.

A study by the Livestock Conservation Institute revealed that 14 percent of the downed cows were salmonella positive. One cow even tested positive for a variant of salmonella that kills almost 1,000 Americans each year. This animal passed inspection and entered the food supply.

Another area of concern is mad cow disease, not just because of the dangers to humans, but because of the devastating effect that it can have on the cattle industry itself. Recently, a single infected animal in Canada shut down their entire industry. Perhaps the reason we have not found mad cow disease in the United States is because the American consumer is eating the evidence.

The Federal Government has started to react. The USDA recently added regulations, which Congress would not, to protect the ground beef that goes into school lunches from containing meat from downed animals.

Earlier this year, the USDA began circulating a proposed rule that specifically notes the health hazard for downed animals for consumers. Some fast-food leaders like Jack in the Box, and Burger King and Wendy's have responded to past tragic incidents by raising their standards.

But Congress has not just been ``missing in action'' to protect the American consumer from tainted beef; some have actually been leading the charge to keep those animals on your table. Some people put the convenience and profit of the cattle industry ahead of public safety.

Last year's agricultural bill passed both bodies of Congress with language to keep the downed animals out, yet in conference the conferees stripped away the language. They led a battle in this year's agriculture appropriations bill against an amendment that would have kept downed animals out of the food supply.

This is serious business. All independent experts know that downed animals are dangerous. Responsible producers understand the problem. Some State regulators have stepped up to deal with protecting their facilities. They are sending the right message, but they only deal with a small part of the overall food chain.

Congress and the Federal Government must act. The downed animals end up as hamburger in America's grocery stores because they are processed in just a few huge centers where the animals are ground up, they disappear into the food chain. The same child that is now safer in school goes home to the family dinner table, where the entire family is at risk.

It is time for Congress to withstand the pressures of the huge packers and their apologists and allies in Congress. Until the agriculture appropriations bill has finally passed both Chambers, it is possible for the conferees to include provisions protecting the food supply, provisions, as I said, that have passed both Chambers last Congress.

Every single Member of Congress should sign on the critical bipartisan legislation led by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Houghton), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman), and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) that would prohibit downed animals from entering the food supply. This legislation already has the support of 119 Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

It is supported by people who care about animal welfare, food safety, to join with the State health officials and responsible members of the cattle industry. All these people know that our Nation needs to produce meat in a humane and safe manner. Continuing to process downed animals for human consumption is not part of the recipe.