[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11] [House] [Page 15337] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]INTRODUCTION OF FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE PREVENTION ACT (Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.) Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I introduced a bill to protect our Nation's food supply and rural economies. This bill, the Foot and Mouth Disease Prevention Act of 2008, will block meat imports from Argentina until the USDA can certify to Congress that every region of that country is free of FMD. The USDA is currently considering opening the U.S. protein market to select regions of Argentina, a country with a history of FMD outbreaks. This plan is flawed. It assumes that a highly infectious, airborne disease like FMD would stop at imaginary borders, and it trusts Argentina to effectively police itself. Argentina is a country that lacks the infrastructure to handle FMD outbreaks. The USDA hasn't conducted a safety assessment in Argentina since the 2006 outbreak there, yet it is still moving with their plan to regionalize the country. This doesn't make sense, and it is not sound policy. FMD has the potential to wipe out our livestock industry overnight, as it did to the British economy, which lost nearly $20 billion with their outbreak in 2001, resulting in 6 million animals destroyed. A similar outbreak here would cripple the livestock industry, shut down exports of American beef, and send meat prices through the roof. I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this bill to block the USDA's plan to regionalize Argentina. ____________________