Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007 9:29 a.m. EST
Senators Have Beef With Japanese Meat
Western lawmakers say the Senate isn't serving up enough American red meat.
Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Democrats, are protesting an entree of Kobe Beef imported from Japan they recently noticed on the menu in the Senate Dining Room. The two senators wrote a letter Wednesday to Robert Savidge, the restaurant's general manager.
"We were puzzled that the United States Senate Dining Room featured Japanese beef instead of homegrown Montana beef," they wrote, adding that Montana cattle "graze on the high plains and in the mountain valleys so their beef is natural, delicious and healthy."
Savidge did not return a call for comment.
Japanese beef is a sensitive issue for many farm-state lawmakers, as the country resumed limited U.S. beef imports last year after a ban that lasted more than two years. The ban, issued because of concerns about mad cow disease, irked American ranchers and caused a strain between the two countries.
Japan was a huge consumer of U.S. beef before December 2003, when the country imposed its original ban. That ban was lifted in late 2005, only to be imposed again in early 2006 after inspectors found prohibited animal parts in a veal shipment from New York. Members of Congress spent much of that time lobbying Japanese officials to allow their imports.
Baucus, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Tester, an organic grain farmer, noted that their visit to the dining room - open only to members and their guests - wasn't all bad.
"We enjoyed the meal and appreciated your service," the senators wrote.
© 2007 Associated Press
Senators Have Beef With Japanese Meat
Western lawmakers say the Senate isn't serving up enough American red meat.
Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Democrats, are protesting an entree of Kobe Beef imported from Japan they recently noticed on the menu in the Senate Dining Room. The two senators wrote a letter Wednesday to Robert Savidge, the restaurant's general manager.
"We were puzzled that the United States Senate Dining Room featured Japanese beef instead of homegrown Montana beef," they wrote, adding that Montana cattle "graze on the high plains and in the mountain valleys so their beef is natural, delicious and healthy."
Savidge did not return a call for comment.
Japanese beef is a sensitive issue for many farm-state lawmakers, as the country resumed limited U.S. beef imports last year after a ban that lasted more than two years. The ban, issued because of concerns about mad cow disease, irked American ranchers and caused a strain between the two countries.
Japan was a huge consumer of U.S. beef before December 2003, when the country imposed its original ban. That ban was lifted in late 2005, only to be imposed again in early 2006 after inspectors found prohibited animal parts in a veal shipment from New York. Members of Congress spent much of that time lobbying Japanese officials to allow their imports.
Baucus, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Tester, an organic grain farmer, noted that their visit to the dining room - open only to members and their guests - wasn't all bad.
"We enjoyed the meal and appreciated your service," the senators wrote.
© 2007 Associated Press