Liz Saville Roberts: “I urge the chairman and the members of the subcommittee who will sit on the conference to support as much funding as…”

“I urge the chairman and the members of the subcommittee who will sit on the conference to support as much funding as possible for USDA's homeland security funding request and the Dole-McGovern International School Lunch Program. Both of these programs are vital to our ongoing war against terrorism. The USDA homeland security funds will support the rapid response animal and plant health diagnostics networks established last year by USDA. These networks will allow us to respond quickly to an animal or disease outbreak that occurs, whether naturally occurring or intentionally introduced. While this may not seem like a serious risk, I can tell you that the threat is real. We know some of the 9/11 hijackers had agriculture training, and the former Soviet Union had weaponized many of these diseases. The intentional introduction of any of these diseases would have a devastating impact on both the agriculture and national economies.”