Letter To The Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary, U.S. Department Of Agriculture
Letter
October 6, 2009
The Honorable Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Mr. Secretary:
First, I want to thank the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Department) for their recent efforts to support the U.S. pork industry after the H1N1 virus outbreak occurred earlier this year. In particular, I was pleased with the Department's announcement to purchase $30 million of pork products and your continued push of the media and other outlets to use the appropriate name of the disease, the 2009 H1N1 virus.
Unfortunately the past 2 years of economic crisis in the pork industry coupled with the H1N1 virus has left pork producers devastated. Projections for future profits are also dire. Pork producers in the state of Iowa and across the nation have endured lower prices and higher input costs. I'm hearing on a daily basis from independent pork producers in my state that may be out of business in just a few short months if emergency steps to address this crisis aren't implemented.
In light of the importance of the pork industry to our economy, I urge you to take the following actions to provide emergency relief to the industry:
Purchase through Section 32 relief an additional $100 million of pork for various federal food programs.
Work with appropriate federal agencies to help address swine disease surveillance on farms, related diagnostic and vaccine development, and swine industry support.
Help expand exports of U.S. pork by working for the passage of implementing legislation for our trade promotion agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea and working for the removal of China's non-science based restrictions on U.S. pork that were imposed following the outbreak of the H1N1 virus.
I urge you to consider these important steps and any others the Department identifies to help relieve the pressure on our pork industry.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator
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