Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. AKAKA, and Mr. SCHUMER):

S. 2002. A bill to provide protection against bovine spongiform encephalopathy and other prion diseases; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am introducing a bill to strengthen our Nation's firewalls against prion diseases. This bill would prevent the spread of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE. It also addresses other forms of prion disease that affect humans and animals.

For many years, we thought that we didn't have BSE in the United States. But now we have to assume that the disease does exist in our cattle, though it has been detected only twice.

In June 2005, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, officials announced that a Texas cow had tested positive for BSE.

It is troubling that the USDA and Food and Drug Administration, FDA, investigation could not pin down how the cow became infected. Reports compiled for the Texas Animal Health Commission and obtained by The Dallas Morning News showed that 85 percent of the cattle traced in the investigation had already been sent for slaughter.

We should not settle for half-measures in BSE control. Yet nearly two years after USDA and FDA announced efforts to strengthen our nation's firewalls against BSE, critical gaps remain in our defenses.

Just last week, the Government Accountability Office released a study that found that testing of cattle feed is at times too slow to prevent cattle from eating feed that might be contaminated.

Poultry litter, plate waste, and pet food can still be fed to cattle, creating loopholes in the ruminant feed ban.

In addition, the USDA Office of the Inspector General has raised concerns about the design of USDA's surveillance program, including whether the Agency is appropriately selecting animals for testing and testing an adequate number of older cattle.

To fully protect animal and public health, I am reintroducing my bill to strengthen our Nation's firewalls against prion diseases like BSE. My bill would close loopholes in the ruminant feed ban. It would ensure that all older cattle are tested for BSE. In addition, my bill would improve enforcement of the feed ban and take steps to ensure that meat intended for human consumption is free of tissues that could harbor infectious prions.

The bill also would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assess the risk of transmission of human prion diseases through blood and surgical equipment and strengthen surveillance of prion diseases in humans.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

S. 2002

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