Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Thank you, Mr. Thompson.

The Federal Government has a responsibility to ensure our food safety and to make sure that the meat we barbecue this summer doesn't come with harmful diseases.

It is the responsibility of the inspectors and the oversight agencies to stop unsafe practices from occurring in the first place and to proactively address problems before they require massive recalls.

Unfortunately, it doesn't always happen that way. The facility in my district that is now experiencing a sweeping recall of 8.7 million pounds of meat does not represent a simple breakdown in the inspection process.

The Office of the Inspector General has launched a criminal investigation into improper activities that include deceptive practices by the owners of the slaughterhouse. We know, from a CNN investigation, that misconduct may even include some of the very USDA inspectors that were charged with protecting the public.

This incident clearly demands a serious investigation. The public has a right to know what happened, how the process broke down, and who will be held responsible for it. Unfortunately, to date, we have received virtually no information about this from USDA.

This sweeping recall, coupled with a complete lack of information, not only shakes public confidence, it affects, in a very serious way, many of the ranchers in my district whose livelihoods have been harmed. They deserve answers from the USDA, too.

I have many constituents who are facing serious financial losses, and they can't get any information about what happened. Many ranchers in the North Bay had tens of thousands of pounds of their premium beef recalled, and the USDA won't tell them what happened, whether their beef was actually contaminated, or even when this case will be closed.

We have gotten far more information, frankly, from CNN than we have gotten from USDA. This is completely unacceptable.

Our amendment transfers $1 million from the USDA's administrative account to the inspector general's office, so that we can have the resources needed to swiftly complete this investigation, close the case, and make sure we get answers, so that we can prevent this from happening again.

Mr. ADERHOLT. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HUFFMAN. I yield to the gentleman from Alabama.

Mr. ADERHOLT. I was simply asking the gentleman to yield to say we would accept your language.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Reclaiming my time, thank you very much.

Mr. THOMPSON of California. I thank the chairman and ranking member for cooperating with us and working with us on this very important matter, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. I thank my colleague from southern California for his leadership on this issue.

Mr. Chairman, like many people, I did a lot of reflecting after I saw the documentary ``Blackfish.'' Specifically, I looked into whether our Federal authorities were using the most updated science-based information in their regulation of marine mammal captivity.

I was disappointed to find that our government has done virtually nothing to update these regulations in the last two decades.

APHIS, the agency charged with this responsibility, has not updated the Animal Welfare Act regulations since 1995, and these rules should have been updated 10 years ago, when APHIS opened up a rulemaking process. Unfortunately, they dropped the ball, so it is time to try again.

As Congressman Schiff mentioned, we recently led a sign-on letter with three dozen of our colleagues to Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, demanding action on that issue.

In that letter, we urged him to complete the updating of these regulations for captive marine mammals, including publishing the proposed rule and allowing a public comment period, so that we can incorporate the latest science.

We have had no response to that letter, so today, we are offering an amendment to provide APHIS with the funding needed to start that process again and ensure that our regulations for captive orcas and other marine mammals are based on modern science.

This amendment reminds APHIS that inaction is unacceptable. The agency must use the funds provided to ensure that we have on the books the best possible standards for captive marine mammals based on solid modern science and informed by all of the information that we have gleaned in the past two decades.

I ask my colleagues to support this amendment

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