Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - February 15, 2007)

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By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. KERRY, and Mr. MENENDEZ):

S. 642. A bill to codify Executive Order 12898, relating to environmental justice, to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to fully implement the recommendations of the Inspector General of the Agency and the Comptroller General of the United States, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I introduce, with Senators KERRY and MENENDEZ, an environmental justice bill that will help protect the well-being of minority and low-income communities throughout the United States.

In 1994, President Clinton issued an Executive Order instructing Government agencies to develop strategies to identify and address environmental inequities that might be created through agency programs. The Executive Order recognized that low-income and minority communities often end up with more than their fair share of pollution, associated health risks and environmental degradation.

More advantaged communities--with strong advocates, more resources, and better access to information--are less likely to have landfills, petrochemical plants, or waste incinerators built in their neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not honored the 1994 Executive Order and the goal of environmental justice has not been met. In a March 2004 report, the EPA Inspector General concluded that the agency ``has not fully implemented Executive Order 12898 nor consistently integrated environmental justice into its day-to-day operations. EPA has not identified minority and low-income [populations] ..... and has neither defined nor developed criteria for determining [who is] disproportionately impacted. Moreover, in 2001, the Agency restated its commitment to environmental justice in a manner that does not emphasize minority and low-income populations, the intent of the Executive Order.'

Today, with the introduction of the Environmental Justice Act of 2007, we ask Congress to codify the Executive Order. The legislation also directs the EPA to implement recommendations in this area from both the EPA Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office. The recommendations include creating offices to review programs and policies for environmental justice implications, training staff to address environmental justice concerns in the rule making process and specifically assessing the impacts of future regulation and enforcement on the communities most at risk to human and environmental health problems. Finally, the bill establishes reporting requirements for the implementation of the recommendations.

I am pleased that our legislation currently has the support of 18 organizations, including: Earthjustice; Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Center for Health, Environment and Justice; Natural Resources Defense Council; Advocates for Environmental Human Rights and Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

The bill we are introducing today is an important step toward shifting the balance of environmental hazards, so the burden is not shouldered unfairly by low-income and minority communities.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

S. 642

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By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. Schumer):

S. 654. A bill to establish the Food Safety Administration to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, years ago, a friend from Chicago went out and bought hamburger meat at a local grocery store. She took it home, cooked it, and gave it to her five-year-old boy. That poor boy was exposed to E. coli and died a few days later, a gruesome, horrible death.

In 1992, four children died and 700 people were sickened by an E. coli outbreak that was traced to hamburgers served at Jack in the Box restaurants. That outbreak proved to be a pivotal moment in the history of the beef industry. The Federal Government revamped the meat inspection program which has led a decline in the number of illnesses from beef since 2000.

The E. coli outbreaks from fresh produce that occurred at the end of 2006 may prove to be the critical events for the produce industry as the Jack in the Box outbreak was for the meat industry. Three people died and nearly 200 were sickened in 26 States due to E. coli that was traced back to packaged spinach.

The breadth of the problem of foodborne illness is stunning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that as many as 76 million people suffer from food poisoning each year. Of those individuals, approximately 325,000 will be hospitalized and more than 5,000 will die. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to foodborne pathogens. Despite these statistics, our food supply is still the safest in the world; however, there are widening gaps in our food safety system due to the fact that food safety oversight has evolved over time and is spread across several agencies.

As the number of foods imported from outside the United States continues to increase so do concerns that terrorists could easily attack our food supply and distribute a harmful product widely. It is more important now then ever to reinforce any potential weak spots in our food safety system.

Last month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) designated the Federal oversight of food safety as a high-risk area. In order to achieve greater effectiveness and accountability, there needs to be a broad-based transformation of our federal food safety oversight. GAO concluded that the fragmented federal system, with 15 agencies collectively administering at least 30 laws, has caused inconsistent oversight and an inefficient use of resources. An accidental or deliberate contamination of the food supply could undermine consumer confidence and cause severe economic consequences. It is not a surprise that GAO placed food safety oversight on its high-risk list this year. GAO has been calling for a single food safety agency for the past 30 years.

Here is one example of where our current food safety system doesn't make sense. Take a pre-packaged ham and cheese sandwich that's available at your local convenience store. The way the sandwich is regulated depends on how it is presented. USDA has jurisdiction if the sandwich is a packaged open-face meat or poultry sandwich that contains one slice of bread. If the sandwich is a closed-face meat or poultry sandwich, meaning it has two slices of bread, FDA inspects it. USDA inspects the open-face sandwiches that are sold in interstate commerce on a daily basis while FDA inspects closed-face sandwiches an average of once every five years.

Here's another example that illustrates the inefficient use of resources. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both inspect shipments of imported food at 18 U.S. ports-of-entry; however the two agencies do not share inspection resources at these ports. USDA import inspectors are assigned to USDA-approved import inspection facilities at these ports and some of the ports also handle FDA-regulated products. USDA does not have jurisdiction over the FDA-regulated products. USDA has inspectors assigned to these facilities every day while the FDA-regulated products may remain at the facilities for some time awaiting FDA inspection. In fiscal year 2003, USDA spent nearly $16 million on imported food inspections and FDA spent over $115 million. This is just one example of where millions of dollars could have been saved if one agency oversaw the inspection process.

Please join me in sponsoring the Safe Food Act of 2007, which addresses our Nation's fractured food safety system. The Safe Food Act of 2007 would create a single, independent Federal food safety agency to administer all aspects of Federal food safety efforts, including inspections, enforcement, standards-setting and research, in order to protect public health. The agencies and sub-agencies now charged with protecting the food supply, primarily housed at the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture, would be transferred to this new agency.

A single food safety agency with authority based on sound scientific principles would provide this country with the greatest hope of reducing foodborne illness, and would also prevent or minimize the harm of a bioterrorist attack on our food supply. The Safe Food Act of 2007 would put authority for imported and domestic food in the hands of one Food Safety Administrator. The Administrator would oversee one science-based food safety law that would harmonize the various authorities that currently govern food safety regulation.

Our food distribution system has undergone many changes over the years. For example, in the past, it was likely that produce that ended up in a local grocery store came from a farm not too far from the retailer. Fast forward to today produce grown on a single farm in one state could end up on dinner tables in many states across the country. We cannot continue trying to use a 1950s food safety model to oversee a 21st Century food distribution system. That's like asking a propeller plane to keep up with an F-18. We need to change, to shed the old bureaucratic shackles that have tied us to the overlapping and inefficient ad hoc food safety system of the past and create a system fit for the 21st Century.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

S. 654

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