Chris Smith: “I rise in support of the Ackerman-LaTourette Amendment which would end the sale of ``downed animal meat'' for human…”

“I rise in support of the Ackerman-LaTourette Amendment which would end the sale of ``downed animal meat'' for human consumption. Simply put, this Amendment would take livestock that is too diseased, too weak, or too injured to even stand on its own feet out of our food chain. American families do not want to put downed animal meat products on their dinner tables, and they do not want to worry about whether the meat products purchased from a restaurant contains meat from downed animals. As a matter of fact, new animal welfare standards followed by burger-giants McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's have ended the purchase of meat from downed animals in their food products. I applaud these moves and America's consumers applaud them as well. Common sense, as well as scientific data, says that the meat taken from a downed animal is unfit for human consumption--its risk of bacterial contamination and other diseases is much much higher than the meat taken from a healthy animal. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) records show that downed animals are often afflicted with gangrene, malignant lymphoma, pneumonia, and other serious illnesses. According to the Food and Drug Administration downed animals are responsible for half of the drug residue found in meat because these animals are often very sick animals, and therefore, are often receiving a variety of drug treatments. Why would anyone want to take a chance and eat this meat?”