Illinois Senator Convenes Hearing on Mad Cow Disease

Statement of Chairman Peter G. Fitzgerald
Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce, and Tourism
U. S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation

Wednesday, April 4, 2001

Mad Cow Disease is back in the news. Although reports of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, are down significantly in Great
Britain- where the disease peaked in 1993 with an estimated 1,000
cases per week- other European countries once thought immune to the
disease are now reporting cases of BSE. The spread of the disease
throughout Europe invites our reexamination of the measures in place
in the United States to prevent transmissible animal diseases.
Additionally, we have recently witnessed graphic images of the mass
slaughter of animals in Britain to control the latest outbreak of foot
and mouth disease- a blight unrelated to BSE. Some consumers
apparently do not distinguish between foot and mouth disease and mad
cow disease, and other questions are arising as well.

Beginning in 1988, our government- through the United States
Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and
various other agencies- has employed a number of different measures to
safeguard the American public from BSE. And as Newsweek reported
earlier this month, "The United States, to its credit, has shown
foresight... Not a single mad cow has been reported in this country."
Let me repeat that again, Newsweek recently reported that "Not a
single mad cow has been reported in this country."

In addition to the preventive measures adopted by regulation- and the
vast ocean that separates us from Europe- initiatives within industry
and differences between the way the U. S. and Europe traditionally
feed and slaughter cattle may help the United States remain BSE-free.
We hope to examine some of these initiatives and differences today.

But while the risks may be low, we cannot be complacent. The recent
focus on BSE has invited examination of our defenses.

By 1988, researchers in Britain knew that their cattle faced a deadly
epidemic. They had identified BSE as a neurological disease, thought
that it was probably transmitted through cattle feed derived from
animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats, and knew that thousands of
cattle may have consumed contaminated feed. To date, there have been
over 170,000 cases of BSE reported in Europe, the vast majority of
them in Great Britain.

At the hearing today, this subcommittee will examine the nature of the
disease, as well as the measures taken in this country to prevent the
disease's establishment and spread in the United States. Concerns have
also been raised about our primary efforts to keep the infection out
of the country. The effectiveness of our import prohibitions is also
an issue we will explore.

This subcommittee would like answers to some very basic questions:
A) What is BSE? B) How much do we know? C) Who are the experts in the
field? D) How do they assess the risk? E) Should consumers be
concerned? F) What are we doing to prevent BSE? G) Should we be doing
more?

By examining these issues publicly, it is our hope to help answer
questions posed by consumers. As former Secretary of Agriculture Dan
Glickman wrote in response to a recent magazine article on BSE, the
American public is far more likely to be affected by salmonella,
E-coli, or listeria than by BSE. I look forward to hearing from our
witnesses today about whether they agree with that statement, whether
our defenses are in place, and whether there is anything further we
need to do.