Dennis Kucinich: “my amendment would maintain current testing levels for mad cow disease. The underlying bill already appropriates the…”

“my amendment would maintain current testing levels for mad cow disease. The underlying bill already appropriates the same amount as that appropriated in fiscal year 2005. This amendment merely calls for the same funding levels using the same funding mechanism. Until the United States Department of Agriculture stumbled upon America's first case of mad cow disease, testing rates were abysmally low. Out of 35 million cattle slaughtered annually, the USDA tested 20,000 in fiscal year 2003. Out of every 10,000 cattle that went to the dinner table, only six were tested. Then came the first case of mad cow in the U.S., that we know of. The USDA ramped up the testing rate significantly, but only after considerable public pressure. Six months after the positive test in fiscal year 2005, the USDA tested at the rate of 100 cattle tested for every 10,000 slaughtered. Another way of looking at it is 99 percent were untested even after a major increase in testing rates. Though still inadequate, it was a big improvement. Contrast that with the other industrialized nations, many of whom did not know the extent to which their countries harbored mad cow disease until they got serious with their testing program. France and Germany test over half their cattle. The U.K. tests all cattle over 24 months old. Japan tests every single one. So far, even with an untested rate of 99 percent, we managed to find a total of three cases in the United States. When we looked, we found cases.…”