Mike Enzi: “I rise to speak about a specific provision in the Omnibus Appropriations bill. The bill before the Senate includes a…”

“I rise to speak about a specific provision in the Omnibus Appropriations bill. The bill before the Senate includes a 2-year delay in the implementation of country of origin labeling for all products except fish. I am highly frustrated with this delay because the conference committee went beyond the scope of its conference. The House bill only had a 1-year delay for implementation of country of origin labeling for meat and meat products. The Senate bill included an amendment indicating the strong support that country of origin labeling had in the Senate. The discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, within our borders this holiday season was a wake-up call to the urgency of country of origin labeling implementation and the detriments of further delays. After the announcement of a 'presumptive positive' BSE cow in the U.S. domestic herd, the national and international response was immediate. Domestic markets plunged and our international trading partners slammed their doors shut to our meat products. Exports account for almost 10 percent of total U.S. beef production. Our largest export markets are refusing our product and bloating the domestic market. We've already lost a majority of our export market, a void that other beef exporting countries are eager to fill. Unless we act now to restore the confidence of those markets, the relationships we have built for many years will be lost for good.”