Political Quotes

“I am convinced that the bioterrorism bill to which we are about to give final approval will make a real difference in our Nation's ability to detect and, in the unfortunate event, respond to a bioterrorism attack. I am particularly pleased that the legislation includes food safety provisions which I have advocated for some time. In 1998, in my capacity as chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I conducted a 16-month investigation into the safety of imported food. What we found was truly frightening. We discovered that the FDA inspects fewer than 1 percent of all shipments of imported fruits and vegetables. And we discovered that the safety net for ensuring that imported food was, indeed, wholesome and safe was deeply flawed. We found that an unscrupulous shipper could very easily ship tainted food from one port to another without detection. If the system was that vulnerable to an unethical shipper, think what a determined terrorist could do. So I am convinced the provisions included in this bill will make a real difference in helping to ensure the safety of our food supply.”