Political Quotes

“times have sure changed since this appropriations bill was last presented to this Congress. We were a country free of mad cow disease and I was trying to pass an amendment requiring that no funds from the bill be used to allow downed animals into our food supply. I stood before this Congress and said: Let us do everything we can to make sure that mad cow disease never enters this country. Let us take precautionary measures and prevent downed animals--livestock too sick to walk or stand--from entering our food supply and require those animals to be humanely euthanized. This year, we are no longer a country free of mad cow disease and the USDA has since wisely implemented a series of interim final rules to strengthen food safety regulations in the United States. I applaud the USDA and FDA for their recent actions to strengthen safeguards against mad cow disease. I was pleased to read about recent regulations to remove highly infectious cattle materials from food, dietary supplementals and cosmetics. Though these regulations should have been in place years ago, I am thrilled to see that the USDA and FDA have embraced common sense policies to protect Americans. In good faith that the USDA will continue to enact sound policies to strengthen food safety laws and protect cattle from inhumane treatment, I will not be introducing my amendment again this year.”