Joseph T. Burns: “Studies of this kind on safety must move forward or we will have a public health situation being created by the…”

“Studies of this kind on safety must move forward or we will have a public health situation being created by the unintended consequence of not performing those studies. Now, if I have not convinced you to vote with me yet, I also have an extensive list of pesticides that rely on human studies to determine safe exposure levels for more than 50 crops grown in our States. In fact, these pesticides, cited by Senator Boxer's and Representative Waxman's June 25 study, have critical uses in 39 States. A few of these States include: Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, Ohio, and West Virginia. I say to the Presiding Officer, I am sorry, they did not mention South Carolina. But these pesticides, for every State listed, are used in the production of food and fiber for this country. Now, I realize there are a lot of folks who do not really understand agriculture maybe that much, but you have to understand the second thing we do in this country every day--after we get up--is eat. For the first thing we do, we have a lot of options. But the second thing we do is eat. The largest industry probably contributing to the GDP of California is agriculture. If it is not the largest industry, I would be surprised. Think about your brussel sprouts, strawberries, apples, dry beans. Look at all your almond production, beats, peppers, celery, cauliflower, pistachios.…”