Statement of Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) on Positive Finding of BSE inthe United States

STATEMENT OF SENATOR TOM HARKIN (D-IA) ON POSITIVE FINDING OF BSE IN THE UNITED STATES

"USDA's announcement today of a positive finding of BSE in the U.S. is an unwelcome challenge for the U.S. cattle industry and USDA. It is unfortunate that it took over seven months and several rounds of testing to confirm this animal did, in fact, have BSE.

"I commend USDA for listening to the Inspector General and conducting further testing to obtain a clear answer in this case. Fortunately, USDA has decided to change its protocol on testing for mad cow disease. It is clear now, however, that USDA had no established procedure to deal with conflicting test results. This lack of clear direction caused uncertainty for America's beef and cattle markets, consumers, and our trading partners.

"The animal's herd of origin remains unknown until further investigation. I urge the administration to expedite this process.

"I stress that consumers should have no misgivings about eating beef based on this test result. Thankfully, our safeguards prevented this cow from entering our food supply. The animal was incinerated before it could reach our food.

http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=239581