Angie Craig: “I want to briefly raise an issue that is of the utmost importance to produce growers and shippers throughout every…”

“I want to briefly raise an issue that is of the utmost importance to produce growers and shippers throughout every region in the United States and of great concern to me and several other of my colleagues in both the House and Senate. On October 27, 1999, eight Department of Agriculture (USDA) fruit and vegetable inspectors stationed at the Hunts Point Terminal Market in the Bronx, NY, were arrested and charged with accepting bribes for downgrading loads of produce so that receivers could negotiate lower prices with shippers. This week, I understand those inspectors were sentenced for their illegal and fraudulent scam at the Hunts Point Terminal Market in the Bronx, New York. While these guilty inspectors are being held accountable through our legal system for their actions, the economic damages to the produce industry remain unaddressed. Moreover, to my knowledge, those individuals with direct oversight responsibility within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have not acknowledged to the Congress how their oversight activities failed, why the Department discounted complaints by the industry over the past several years, the number of inspections that are connected with the guilty USDA produce inspectors or even an estimate of the damages incurred by produce growers and shippers. This is unacceptable and USDA must act expeditiously to restore confidence and integrity in the federal inspection system for the produce industry.”