Bill Bennett: “I understand that there is a collaborative research project being developed by two well-respected research groups, one…”

“I understand that there is a collaborative research project being developed by two well-respected research groups, one in the United States and the other in Scotland, that has the hope of eventual eradication of this disease by understanding how and when scrapie is transmitted. At least two countries, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, have committed to share the cost of funding the research project with the United States. Part of the study will be conducted at a land-grant university. While the research project does not appear to fit squarely into current funding mechanisms at ARS, APHIS, or CSREES within the Department of Agriculture, would the chairman agree that it would be in the interest of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to seriously consider the feasibility of funding such a study?”