The House Agriculture Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee recently conducted a hearing to examine animal pest disease prevention and response, determining U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Congressional coordination is needed.
“The livestock industry faces pest and disease threats capable of devastating the rural economy and our nation’s food supply,” Subcommittee Ranking Member David Rouzer (R-NC) said. “Our best defense is a strong offense, which is why we took critical steps in the 2018 Farm Bill to provide USDA with the resources to better identify, diagnose and respond to a potential outbreak in our nation’s livestock sector. We heard about the broad authorities that USDA and state agencies have to address these threats and it’s imperative that they efficiently and effectively build out the infrastructure network to support pest and disease prevention and response activities.”
Committee Ranking Member K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) said strong food security directly impacts national security.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work in the 2018 Farm Bill to ensure that USDA and state agencies have the tools to further develop the critical animal health infrastructure to protect against emerging threats,” Conaway said. “This is something we’ve long highlighted before the committee, and we intend to closely monitor USDA’s progress in implementing these important programs.”
Panel witnesses included Greg Ibach, USDA Under Secretary of Marketing and Regulatory Programs, and Dr. Burke Healey, USDA associate deputy administrator of Veterinary Services and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.