DeLauro Presses Administration On Food Safety, Trade, Budget Cuts

Press Release

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) engaged with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack on the issues facing the Department, particularly the intersection of food safety and trade, and the budget cuts caused by the sequestration cuts. The exchanges took place at the annual hearing on USDA's budget request; DeLauro is a former Chairwoman of the Subcommittee.

DeLauro asked Vilsack about reports that the Administration is considering a binding dispute resolution process for part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement currently under negotiation. She has repeatedly urged the Administration not to sacrifice either food safety or transparency as they negotiate this and other trade deals.

"The resolution of trade disputes is critical to industry, but the integrity of those standards is imperative to consumers and to continued confidence in the safety of our food. A "binding dispute resolution' presents a very real threat to the substance of our food safety standards -- ranging from the inspection process to specific microbiological standards, like our zero tolerance for some of the most dangerous pathogens. On top of that, it will result in a significant resource drain as agency staff is diverted away from their primary mission to protect the public health and prevent foodborne illness."

DeLauro also questioned Vilsack on the impact of sequestration on USDA programs.

In response to his remarks, including the fact that 15,000 Americans will likely lose their rental assistance by September, DeLauro noted that "I think it is still relatively unknown among many of my colleagues how deeply these cuts will hurt people across the country. I am not sure that there is a granular understanding of what this means in reality to the population of people who count on USDA to get by and the hammer is really going to come down much sooner than people think."

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