New House Ag Committee

[Anonymous]

WASHINGTON - Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota released the full membership of the House Agriculture
Committee for the 110th Congress today.



The House Democratic Steering Committee, which designates all committee assignments, has nominated twenty-five Democrats, including
seven freshmen Members and eighteen returning Members, to serve on the House Agriculture Committee. The House Republican Conference
has named 21 Republicans to serve on the Committee.



"I welcome the new and returning Members of the Committee as we begin a busy and important year for agriculture," Chairman Peterson
said. "The Members of our committee represent a diverse cross-section of American agriculture. We have a lot of work to do, and the
ideas and energy our members will bring to the caucus will be invaluable, particularly as we write a new Farm Bill."



The Agriculture Committee will operate with the same 25-to-21 ratio of majority party members to minority party members as the 109th
Congress. The 25 Democrats who will serve on the committee are:

.. Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota
.. Congressman Tim Holden of Pennsylvania
.. Congressman Mike McIntyre of North Carolina
.. Congressman Bob Etheridge of North Carolina
.. Congressman Leonard Boswell of Iowa
.. Congressman Joe Baca of California
.. Congressman Dennis Cardoza of California
.. Congressman David Scott of Georgia
.. Congressman Jim Marshall of Georgia
.. Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota
.. Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas
.. Congressman Jim Costa of California
.. Congressman John Salazar of Colorado
.. Congressman Brad Ellsworth of Indiana
.. Congresswoman Nancy Boyda of Kansas
.. Congressman Zack Space of Ohio
.. Congressman Tim Walz of Minnesota
.. Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
.. Congressman Steve Kagen of Wisconsin
.. Congressman Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota
.. Congressman Lincoln Davis of Tennessee
.. Congressman John Barrow of Georgia
.. Congressman Nick Lampson of Texas
.. Congressman Joe Donnelly of Indiana
.. Congressman Tim Mahoney of Florida



The 21 Republicans who will serve on the Committee are:

.. Ranking Member Bob Goodlatte of Virginia
.. Congressman Terry Everett of Alabama
.. Congressman Frank Lucas of Oklahoma
.. Congressman Jerry Moran of Kansas
.. Congressman Robin Hayes of North Carolina
.. Congressman Timothy Johnson of Illinois
.. Congressman Sam Graves of Missouri
.. Congressman Jo Bonner of Alabama
.. Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama
.. Congressman Steve King of Iowa
.. Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado
.. Congressman Randy Neugebauer of Texas
.. Congressman Charles Boustany of Louisiana
.. Congressman Randy Kuhl of New York
.. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina
.. Congressman Michael Conaway of Texas
.. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska
.. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt of Ohio
.. Congressman Adrian Smith of Nebraska
.. Congressman Kevin McCarthy of California
.. Congressman Timothy Walberg of Michigan


The House Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over a wide range of agriculture and rural development issues. These areas include
renewable energy, disaster assistance, nutrition, crop insurance, conservation, international trade, futures market regulation,
animal and plant health, agricultural research, bioterrorism, forestry, and others.

A major responsibility of the Agriculture Committee in the 110th Congress is reauthorization of federal farm programs in the Farm
Bill. The bill authorizes commodity support, agricultural trade, marketing, food assistance and rural development policies over
several years. The current farm bill was written in 2002, and many of the provisions in that bill will expire this September.



Congressman Peterson was selected to chair the Agriculture Committee by the House Democratic Caucus last December.

 

[William Kanitz]

Representative DeGette Introduces Food Safety Bills to Improve Traceability and Recall of Contaminated Food



Jan.11/07
WASHINGTON, DC – Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) joined Senators Harkin (D-IA) and Schumer (D-NY) in introducing two separate bills on Thursday that would protect Americans from contaminated meat and poultry by improving product tracing and recall powers. The SAFER Food Act, authored by Rep. DeGette and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), would give the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the ability to enact a mandatory recall of tainted food products.

"It's absurd that we have mandatory recall authority for unsafe toys but not for unsafe foods," said DeGette. "This bill places public safety ahead of business interests by giving the USDA and FDA the ability to enact a mandatory recall of tainted food products."

Under current law, recalls of contaminated meat products are completely voluntary. The SAFER act would also require USDA and FDA officials to immediately notify state and local public health officials in the case of contamination, and allow access to industry distribution records to ensure faster and more effective recalls.

Senator Harkin added, "Part of the problem is that USDA and FDA don't have the tools they need to enforce basic sanitary standards. This bill aims to change that."

The TRACE Act, sponsored by Rep. DeGette and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) directs the Agriculture Secretary to develop a system to trace meat products from their animal sources to the consumer. This proposal will assist consumers and retailers in identifying and removing tainted products from refrigerators and store shelves.


"When contaminated meat is discovered, it is critical that we move quickly to identify both the origin and nationwide distribution of infected products," DeGette added. "We should be able to electronically scan a meat product's label and have immediate access to its entire distribution records for speedy and mandatory recall."