Recognizing The Kansas City Animal Health Corridor

Floor Speech

Recognizing The Kansas City Animal Health Corridor

Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 317, a bill to recognize the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.

In 1871, the first stockyard was opened in Kansas City and soon grew into one of the nation's premier livestock facilities. Kansas City's tradition of being a national leader in the agriculture sector continues today with the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, an area stretching from Manhattan, Kansas through Missouri's Fifth District to Columbia, Missouri.

This region is home to more than 120 companies, including many of the nation's leading and largest animal health businesses. Sales of animal health products from companies located in the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor account for nearly a third of the global $16.8 billion dollar animal health and nutrition industry.

Activities in the Animal Health Corridor are not limited to the commercial aspects of animal health. Four of our nation's top veterinarian schools are located within 350 miles of the Animal Health Corridor. In addition to these premier veterinarian programs, other schools in the Corridor offer programs focused on animal health training and specialized degrees such as a Masters in Business Administration in Animal Health. Animal health research is greatly advanced in the Corridor by the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute which offers grants of up to $50,000 for researchers to study diseases that have the ability to infect both humans and animals.

The businesses, schools, and organizations in and around the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor are the national, if not global, leaders in the animal health research and production sectors and I am proud to have these institutions in my district and to support the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor. Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the area of Manhattan, Kansas to Columbia, Missouri as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.

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