SEC. MIKE JOHANNS: "That was a great introduction. It's great to be here with you today, ladies and gentlemen.

"Now it was mentioned that I grew up on a farm in Iowa. I guess there are some Iowans here. Right?

[Applause.]

"Well, I've got an assignment for you. When you go back to Iowa I still have a sister Pat who is farming back there? Tell her I found work in Washington, all right?

[Laughter.]

"It was also a great opportunity for me to meet the commissioner as he was leaving, and one of the things I said to him was, we look forward to working together.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate this invitation because I had a wonderful working relationship with the Nebraska restaurant industry when I was governor of the state of Nebraska. And in fact they were very early enthusiastic supporters of me, not only in my candidacy but during the time I was governor. And I really, really enjoyed working with a first-class industry there.

"I will also tell you that your previous head guy Herman Cain-- that probably rings a bell in this room -- was also a personal friend of mine. In fact, he was a keynote speaker at an annual restaurant event in Nebraska, and he got up there and he said, ladies and gentlemen, you can ask me never to come back again but I want you to know something-- I support Mike Johanns for governor.

"And I always appreciated that from Herman. So it is good to be with you.

"I want to start out today and just say thank you. If I had no other message today, I'd want to be able to express my appreciation. When I would speak to your industry on an annual basis and I did, one of the things I would do is I'd provide updated figures of the impact that the industry has on the economy. And when I look across what your industry does in our nation is job creation and economic development. It is absolutely magnificent.

"So if I had no other message, you gave me one minute to be up here today, I'd tell you how much I appreciate that all across your communities you are creating good things.

"The other thing I wanted to say is, I know enough about this industry to know that every time there is a fundraising effort, every time there is a group of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts or 4-H or FFA that get together for a purpose, they are calling somebody in your industry to see if you would make a contribution, either monetary or otherwise. And in my experience, you always step up and that also is enormously appreciated. It tells me volumes about the character of your industry. So thank you.

"I also want to say thanks to your commitment to safe food. Through the years I've worked a lot with the industry. That includes safety issues and again you were always there. I want you to know it's something that you and I have in common. One of the things that excited me most when President Bush asked me to join his team was this passion about the issues that the USDA deals with each and every day. He of course understands the importance of food safety to your businesses and to American producers and the consumers.

"That's why I'm so humbled, and I am so proud to be able to speak here on his behalf about the important issues that we face together -- underscore together -- in the next few months and the next few years.

"Well, promises. I need to start there. You have one promise today. My door is always going to be open to you. I'll always listen, and I will always respect your views because that's the way I do business. That's how I believe that a servant should act treating those we serve with respect and in a dignified manner and with equality.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the fact is food safety is one of the most important examples I can offer of the importance of partnership. None of us can do it alone because simply put the federal government can't take on this task alone. Nowhere has the importance of this partnership been more critical than our response relative to BSE.

"In Nebraska, after the first discovery in the United States, everyone wondered what would happen. Would consumers be still safe? Would people continue buying beef? Would exports be banned forever? Would the industry be harmed or affected?

"Fortunately the USDA and its partners swung into action immediately with many critical actions -- the ban of specified risk materials, ban on downer cattle, increased surveillance. I'm happy to report to you today after an enhanced surveillance of now nearly, the last year we've tested about 275,000 cattle, and we haven't found another case. We began the processing of a national animal identification system. We did promotions and public information campaigns designed to get information into hands of the public.

"And now in our country a year later, more than a year later, the market for beef remains amazingly strong.

"There is a big reason for that. Americans rightly feel safe eating beef. That confidence has helped sustain not just the industry but the retail and the restaurant industries. Now we must do all we can to work together to maintain, and I would suggest even increase, that confidence.

"So how do we go about doing that? First and foremost we need to base the hard decisions on vigorous sound science. In a rapidly changing world marketplace, science is truly a universal language that must guide our rules and policies. We must not be guided by subjectivity or the politics of a given moment.

"That's why I am proud to announce today that the USDA's Ag Research Service is redirecting almost $2 million in funding for the BSE research program. The funding will be used in a spectrum of important efforts.

"About $750,000 will go toward a new bio-containment facility now under construction at the ARS, National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa. The funds will also fund collaborative projects with laboratories in Great Britain and Italy and in Spain. This funding, I might say, by the way comes on the heels of the President's 2006 budget proposal, which would increase BSE research by $7.3 million. That's 155 percent over 2005.

"That scientific basis for understanding BSE is also critical in other ongoing efforts to reopen markets to our American beef products and to resume normalized trade with our trading partners. We have the framework in place to get us there, and ladies and gentlemen we have the science on our side.

"I said recently at an event that I spoke at that trade is not only a two-way street these days; it is in fact a superhighway. But you know, there's something about it that's pretty straightforward. We can't treat Asia one way and our neighbors another way. We can't proclaim to the world, ladies and gentlemen, 'Do as I say but not as I do.'

"The Canadian regulatory response to BSE has largely mirrored the U.S. response over the years, not just recently. And measures such as the ban on ruminant-to-ruminant feeding are substantially similar. I have the utmost confidence in the safety of the beef supply.

"Without science governing international trade, borders can remain closed arbitrarily. We know the effects of that. And any short-term gains that may be realized could result in long-term damage to this industry. The scientific approach we are taking with the Canadian Minimal Risk Rule is no different than what we should expect from markets for American beef around the world.

"But as you know, the rule has met resistance. Two weeks ago the Senate voted, in a very close vote I might add, to disapprove the rule that would have reopened the border. The House has not yet voted, and the President has stepped up and promised to veto the disapproval resolution were it ever to reach his desk.

"In the meantime however, a court injunction is still preventing us from moving forward, an injunction that we announced yesterday will be appealed.

"The Minimal Risk Rule is based on sound science, and our highest priority is and will always be protecting human health and animal health and consumer confidence.

"A USDA team traveled to Canada after the latest BSE discoveries there and confirmed that Canada is in compliance of its feed ban. Our decision to open the border conforms to OIE international standards. But the bottom line is this. We can't destroy trade and expect anything good to come out of that.

"Trade based on sound science is good for American producers, consumers, retailers, American food establishments, and it is good for our economy. Of course BSE is only one of the issues that we are dealing with today. As the world gets smaller the potential threats to our food supply do loom.

"And the tools we need to combat these risks must become ever more sophisticated. Along those lines I would like to make yet another announcement today. USDA is awarding $5 million to 17 institutions to establish a new Food Safety Research and Response Network. This network spearheaded by North Carolina State University will include a team of more than 50 food safety experts from 18 colleges and universities who will investigate several of the most common food-related pathogens. The group also will serve to conduct focused research to control major episodes of food-borne illnesses.

"These episodes are not restricted to accidental outbreaks. They could include health problems associated with acts of bioterrorism and the deliberate contamination of ag commodities.

"Our commitment to food safety is also reflected in our President's budget. In addition to the BSE funds I already mentioned, the budget includes nearly $600 million for the Food and Ag Defense Initiative, an increase of $144 million over 2005.

"The Food and Ag Defense Initiative is a comprehensive approach to food safety and the protection of our food supply. Let me identify for you its goals: Enhancing, monitoring and surveillance of pest and diseases in plants and animals; expanding research on emerging animal diseases; increasing the availability of vaccines; establishing a system to track select disease agents of plants; expanding the unified federal/state diagnostic network to all 50 states; and the completion of the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames, Iowa.

"Part of the initiative is the Food Emergency Response Network. We call it FERN. Just last month we announced the next major step in the development of FERN, a partnership, I might add, with the FDA, which will further develop and enhance bioterrorism surveillance. And it will establish an integrated laboratory system to monitor the food supply and share data and assist in handling samples in the event that there would be an emergency.

"We believe that our efforts are showing real results. Americans today know that their food is safe, and we're making progress. We're making it even safer for our future. Last month our Food Safety and Inspection Service released data showing a 43 percent decrease in e-coli in ground beef regulatory samples. This is in line with data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year showing a 36 percent reduction in e-coli illnesses in 2003.

"And a dramatic decrease in e-coli-related recalls has occurred. This is something that we can all be very proud of.

"I want you to know that I am equally proud of the thousands of USDA employees and inspection personnel across this country who are doing everything they can to protect public health. They are reminders that there is a concrete goal. It is not about how much we spend necessarily, and it's not necessarily about how many programs we start. It's about safe and secure food supply. It's about consumers who are supremely confident in the food they buy in our grocery stores and order at our restaurants.

"I never intend to lose sight of these goals and to every step that we can prudently take to ensure that we continue our efforts to reach them. My friends, we are truly in this together, and I will tell you I'm very proud to stand beside you.

"Ensuring the safety of our food supply is very important to all of us whether we are feeding ourselves or we are feeding our families. It is important not just because it's good business. It is good business, an important business. But it's also important because it's the right thing to do, and we will do it together.

"Thank you very, very much."

[Applause.]