BSE and Other Prior Disease Prevention and Public Health Protection Act

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.

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.

Mr. President, the legislation I introduce today reauthorizes a very successful cooperative watershed restoration program that I originally sponsored, and that was originally enacted for the Forest Service, in the fiscal year 1999 Interior Appropriations bill. The original legislation lasted through fiscal year 2001 after which it was reauthorized by the Appropriations Committees, at my request, through fiscal year 2005 and then again through fiscal year 2011. It is time this legislation had a full hearing in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and was made a permanent authority.

The bill making what is commonly referred to as the Wyden amendment permanent authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to use appropriated Forest Service funds for watershed restoration and enhancement agreements that benefit the ecological health of National Forest System lands and watersheds. The Wyden Amendment does not require additional funding, but allows the Forest Service to leverage scarce restoration dollars thereby allowing the Federal dollars to stretch farther. During the 7 years the program has existed the Forest Service has leveraged three dollars for every Forest Service dollar spent on these agreements.

The Wyden amendment has resulted in countless Forest Service cooperative agreements with neighboring State and local land owners to accomplish high priority restoration, protection and enhancement work on public and private watersheds. The projects authorized by these agreements have improved watershed health and fish habitat through the control of invasive species, culvert replacement, and other riparian zone improvement projects. In addition to ecological restoration, use of the Wyden amendment has improved cooperative relationships between the Forest Service, private land owners, State agencies and other federal agencies.

I am hopeful that my colleagues on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will have a hearing on this program soon to highlight its successes and that thereafter this legislation can pass the Senate expeditiously.

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