Kent Conrad: “I thank the Chair and the chairman of the Agriculture Committee. I respect the chairman of the committee, but on this…”

“I thank the Chair and the chairman of the Agriculture Committee. I respect the chairman of the committee, but on this issue we have a profound difference. Let me alert my colleagues and their staffs who are watching, this is going to be a consequential vote. We are only spending 3 hours on this issue this morning because we are operating under special procedures. But let every colleague of mine understand: They are going to be responsible for the votes they cast today. The risk that is being run here is significant. Let me remind my colleagues what happened in Europe when mad cow disease got loose on their continent. One hundred forty-eight people died in England alone. Nearly 5 million head of livestock were slaughtered in that country. They found 183,000 head that were infected, and they believe there were 2 million head of livestock infected in England alone that they were not able to complete tests on because of the magnitude of the crisis. This vote may be critically important to the health of consumers and to the health of an entire industry. Make no mistake. When the question is science, that is precisely what this debate is about. Is, in fact, science being used by our neighbors to the north or are they simply putting regulations on the books that are not enforced? The record is clear and the facts will demonstrate conclusively, Canada is not enforcing their own regulations that are based on sound science.”