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Floor Speech

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Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I first want to express my appreciation to the good Senator from South Dakota, Senator Rounds.

You know, Senator Rounds comes from South Dakota, and I come from Montana. These are both States where we raise a lot of beef. If you come from a State like that, you understand how catastrophic lifting the ban on Paraguayan beef is. It is not a good idea. In our States, lifting this ban is not supported by Democrats, and it is not supported by Republicans. The reason is pretty simple. The impacts that lifting this ban have on operations--ranching operations--and on our food security is real, and it is very, very, very serious.

This Congressional Review Act vote that we are going to take--the second one in this order--will overturn the Biden administration's decision to lift that longstanding ban on beef imports from Paraguay. The truth is, the administration butchered this decision. I have serious concerns if Paraguay does not currently meet the animal health standards that are in place to warrant access to our markets. Congress must step in and stop this decision in order to protect the American producer and the American consumer.

Our ranchers in this country--I like to say our Montana ranchers-- raise the best beef in the world. In fact, there is a bumper sticker that says, ``Montana makes beef, and beef makes Montana,'' and that is a fact. And it is true all over this country. Our ranchers do it by holding themselves to the strictest standards when it comes to managing and maintaining their herds. Paraguay simply doesn't meet those same high standards. They have a history of foot-and-mouth disease, and lifting this ban poses a real threat to our food supply.

Look, while the chances of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak to some may appear low, the effects of just one outbreak can be devastating. The cost to ranchers for our economy is estimated to be as high as $200 billion. And you say: Why could that happen? I mean, how could it happen? It is just a little bit of meat coming into the United States. Well, the fact is, this is highly contagious. What happens if a cow contracts this disease is--it is like pouring acid over their nose, over their udders, over their feet; it blisters the mouth, the feet, the udders; and, quite frankly, it goes through a herd like wildfire. It puts people out of business, and it impacts our food security.

Senator Rounds talked about this, but the USDA has to get more recent data and thorough data to show that Paraguayan beef is safe and healthy. It should be available behind the meat counter with the information that we have now because, as Senator Rounds pointed out, we haven't had inspectors there in 10 years, and there were only four there when they were there. Things change.

Look, this isn't about one single country. The fact is, I know Paraguay is a great ally, and I think the State Department is having a lot of influence on this decision because of that ally. I appreciate countries that have the same values as us, but the fact is, we do not have the animal health standard in place--it is a broken process--and we need to have better standards if we are going to be bringing beef from anywhere. This is about keeping our consumers safe. It is about protecting America's cattle herds so that ranchers don't have to fear an outbreak of this disease because, if it happens, they are done: generational ranchers, done; our food supply, put at risk.

If you want to know who is supporting this Congressional Review Act, they are folks who typically don't always get along together--the NCBA, U.S. Cattlemen, R-CALF USA, the Livestock Marketing Association, the National Farmers Union, and the American Farm Bureau. This shows the kind of broad-based support for the CRA that Senator Rounds and I are doing on this issue. Rural America sees this as a real problem. This united front shows just how important protecting our cattle herds and our food supply is to American farmers and ranchers.

I want to be clear: I share my colleague's concerns about what is going on in China and Russia right now. I understand the importance of strengthening alliances with partners all over the world, including Paraguay, but I am telling you we shouldn't do it on the backs of hard- working American ranchers. We shouldn't do it on the backs of threatening our food security.

I understand that many folks back here have never gone through a calving season; they have never had to fix a fence; they have never had to manage grass; they have never had to butcher a cow. But I am going to tell you, I see firsthand every day the kind of work these folks put in, and they don't need something that is totally out of their control putting them out of business and putting our food supply at risk. That is why this is critical. Congress needs to step up, do the oversight, pass this Congressional Review Act, and put the ban back on Paraguayan beef. It is really important. I would urge all of my colleagues to support this commonsense solution to protect our Nation's food supply and do right by American ranchers.

In closing, I will just say this: The way we adjudicate animal health standards in foreign countries that want to export beef to us--that system is broken. It is broken. Congress has an opportunity today to provide real oversight and jump-start the conversation about how much we need on these reforms, and it starts with this Congressional Review Act.

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