Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agendcies Appropriations Act, 2007
AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENÐCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 23, 2006)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
Mr. Chairman, as the gentleman from Texas knows, I have a great deal of respect for him. He and I do not agree very often, but I think that he is a very thoughtful watchdog in this House, and I appreciate the fact that he is suspicious of government overreach wherever it comes from.
Having said that, I want to echo the words of the gentleman from Minnesota. If you think that we are going to be able to sell our meat products on international markets without eventually having a system like this, you are smoking something that ain't legal. It simply is not going to happen. To defend the ability of our producers to export, we are going to have to have a decent animal ID system. We are also going to have to have a decent animal ID system in order to protect the public health of our own citizens. So we need to have this go forward.
What the committee is doing is recognizing that the Agriculture Department has handled this issue so badly that they have given incompetence a bad name. And what the committee has therefore done is to say that until the department gets its act in order, there will be no funds provided, but we leave the possibility open for funding once they get their act together. That is the responsible way to force the agency to quit jerking farmers around. I mean, it is like watching a tennis game; bump, bump, bump. They change their mind every 5 minutes. You cannot keep your eye on the ball. One day they have one approach; one day they have another. And as a result, farmers are frustrated, consumers are confused, and taxpayers are bilked for a heck of a lot more money than this system ought to cost. We would not even be having this debate today if USDA had handled this in a fashion which was in any way competent, but they did not. So now we pay the price with debates such as this.
I would urge that the House support the committee in this position. It is taking the responsible path on this issue. And I would urge that we turn down the amendment even though I fully appreciate the frustration that lies underneath the actions of the people who have offered the amendment today.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov/