In protecting our nation’s beef supply, there is a continued need for vigilance when it comes to animal health threats.  That’s why Senator Johnson, D-S.D., and I have introduced the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Prevention Act of 2008.  A wide range of veterinary professionals and livestock producers recognize the threat that foot-and-mouth disease poses to the U.S. livestock industry. If the United States is to continue producing and selling the highest quality meat products in the world, our country must be free of the most dangerous ailments that affect the livestock which enter the market.

The economic threat foot-and-mouth disease poses to our country cannot be underestimated.  Disease outbreaks threaten the livelihood of our nation’s ranchers and undermine foreign markets for our meat products. One can only look to the economic damage foot-and-mouth disease caused to Britain in 2001 to gauge how significant this threat is to the United States. The highly contagious nature of this disease and the growing international trade of livestock equate the regionalization of foot-and-mouth disease in Argentina to mixing fire with gasoline. Foot-and-mouth disease is unique, and regionalization will not work with this disease as it has with other animal ailments.

Our cattle, sheep, and swine already face a number of animal health challenges and now is not the time to open up our country to new diseases. Requiring Argentina to be foot-and-mouth free without using vaccination is not asking too much. This is the same condition the United States and our neighbors already operate under in the trade of livestock. This bill, respected by a large number of state veterinary officials, recognizes this threat and ensures that the proper safeguards remain in place to prevent foot-and-mouth disease from reaching our shores.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Politics .