Political Quotes

“That is not an issue in this regard. They can make a determination of what quality they want. They do that as a buyer. This involves a specific inspection. No other industry has to pay extra for a dual inspection to sell into the USDA program, to my knowledge, except the fish products industry. I do not believe it is required in the chicken producing areas. I know my friend from Arkansas well enough to know that he is concerned about ensuring that there is nothing more in the amendment from the Senator from Alaska than trying to get rid of something that no one has been able to give a satisfactory explanation for. That is, why the USDA should demand an inspection for only the purchases they make as opposed to the inspections that are good enough for the consumer and buyers that represent the consumer. If Safeway or Giant come in and buy a carload of salmon, they pick it out by quality. They pick it out by looking through the lots to determine the various quality, doing samples and so forth. It has to meet a Federal and State inspection process to ensure that it is suitable to go to the commercial ventures. That is fine, but the USDA says, "We will not buy it and put it out in our programs unless it has been through yet another process--and a very expensive one for the producers. And it seems that the bureaucracy of the USDA want to keep government inspectors on the job and active.”