Release No. 0295.98 

Statement
                               of
               Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
                  on House Introduction of the
            Food Safety Enforcement Enhancement Act
                         July 21, 1998


     "I want to thank Congressmen Baldacci for introducing HR 4266, USDA's
"Food Safety Enforcement Enhancement Act."

     "This legislation is an important part of the Clinton Administration's
comprehensive effort to improve food safety.  Our broad-based strategy
includes cutting-edge research into the root causes of foodborne illness,
expanded consumer education, and more nationwide monitoring to control
outbreaks more quickly.  Most importantly, we have fundamentally improved our
meat and poultry inspection system by focusing on prevention and by
incorporating scientific testing directly targeted at harmful bacteria like E.
coli 0157:H7 and salmonella. 

     "But we need additional enforcement tools to ensure that this new system
is as effective as possible.  As the law stands today, USDA cannot fine a
company for lax safety standards.  We can assess fines for all kinds of other
things: selling a cat without a license, abusing a circus elephant, selling a
potato that's too small.  Yet if you produce unsafe food -- the only one of
these actions that puts people's lives at risk -- USDA cannot impose any
financial penalty.  This legislation grants USDA the authority to fine
companies that violate food safety laws.  

     "It is time to treat food safety as seriously as we do any other threat
to human health. Right now, when a car kills due to faulty manufacturing, a
plane engine fails revealing critical safety gaps, or a toy harms the children
it was meant to please -- the federal government can act quickly to remove
them from the marketplace.  Food safety is just as important.  That's why this
legislation requires prompt government notification when contaminated meat or
poultry may have entered the market, and it allows for mandatory recalls when
voluntary means fail to remove all potentially unsafe product from the market.

     "Again, I thank Congressman Baldacci and his 15 co-sponsors for their
leadership on this vital issue.  I look forward to working with them on what I
hope will be a successful attempt to turn this bill into law."
                                
                               #

Note to reporters:  The other House sponsors are Congressmen LaTourette,
Klink, Doyle, Pomeroy, Farr, DeLauro, Ackerman, Allen, Sanders, Hinchey,
Gejdenson, Coburn, Fazio, Kaptur, and Blumenauer.  The companion Senate bill,
S. 1264, was introduced by Senator Harkin on October 7, 1997.  Its other
sponsors are Senators Daschle, Leahy, Johnson, Durbin, Murray, Moseley-Braun,
Boxer, Mikulski, Torricelli, Dodd, and Kennedy.