SEC. MIKE JOHANNS: Well, thank you very much. Thank you. It's great to be here. I appreciate that very, very generous introduction. Doc and I have known each other a long, long time. I keep bringing this up to him -- he doesn't remember it -- but when I was living in O'Neill, Nebraska, he was a physician there. And I was one of his patients. I apparently was not very memorable.

But it is good to be here. The doctor mentioned that I grew up in a community called Osage, Iowa. Now I know that there over 600 folks who are registered here, and I know that there are people from 48 states. So there's got to be some people from Iowa here. Right? People from --

[Applause.]

Yes. Great. Now do you know where Osage is at? Yes, see? They are nodding their head. I'll bet though that the rest of the people in this room probably don't know where Osage is at, you know? It's not like Osage is a huge city. So let me if I might take a moment to explain to you where Osage is at so you're not thinking about that while I'm trying to give my speech. Osage, ladies and gentlemen, is south of Staceyville and St. Ansgar, and it's straight east of Manley.

[Laughter.]

Right? Yeah, see? The folks from Iowa are nodding their head yes. Of course I have to also acknowledge the state that adopted me when I went there back in 1971, the state that I certainly love and became governor of, the state of Nebraska. Are there Nebraskans out there somewhere? Yes. Great. It's good to see you all. We're going to be back in Nebraska this weekend, and are there any folks from Kansas here at this conference? Yes, I see a hand go up. I'm very, very sorry to tell this, but our football team will be beating your football team this weekend. So. Oh, I sure hope they win or it's not going to be very good.

You're a fun group. I'm going to start out today -- I've got some really important stuff to talk to you about, but let me start out on a lighter note. I sometimes like to start my speeches with stories. I have been in politics a lot in my life, and when I decided to run for governor I was the mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska. Of course I was well known in Lincoln, but outside Lincoln I wasn't known at all really. And so my wife Stephanie and I decided that the best way to become known was to go across the state and do parades. And in Nebraska we do a lot of parading.

So we would go out and we'd sometimes do three or four parades on a Saturday, three or four parades on a Sunday, all over our great state. So we had this Chevy Corsica, and we traveled about 150,000 miles over three years campaigning for governor.

And so one night we're headed to a parade in a little community called Sutton, Nebraska. And as we're headed toward Sutton, Nebraska, kind of on the east end of town, out of town a little bit, there's a steel building, a Butler Building as we would call it, and there's a big sign on the side of the building that says "Sale on Tuesdays" or "Auction on Wednesdays."

So I said to my wife Stephanie, That's a sale barn! And the parking lot was filled with cars, and I said, They've got a sale going on tonight, and when we get done with this parade in Sutton we'll come back, we'll stop and go on in, shake some hands, get lucky, the auctioneer will recognize us, introduce us, and we'll meet a whole bunch of people very, very quickly.

So we do this parade and we're heading back; we come up on this building and the parking lot is still filled with cars. So I said to Steph, pull on in, and let's go on in and meet some people. She pulled in.

Now it is has been a very hot summer day in Nebraska, and it was a very, very warm summer evening. And we get out of our car and we're walking across the parking lot and we look up; they had every door and window on this building open, and we noticed that the people inside were wearing suits and tuxedos. You see, this wasn't a sale at all. They had rented this building for the reception for their family wedding.

So I turned to Steph and I said, we need to get out of here. And Steph said, you know it's too late, they're looking at us. So we go on in, and as inconspicuously as we possibly could we tried to blend in.

Now I will tell you, it's hard to blend in when everybody else has a suit or a tuxedo on and you have a T-shirt that says Johanns For Governor on it.

[Laughter.]

But there was a line there, and so I got in line. And I didn't know exactly what the line was, but I quickly figured out that the line was headed up to the stage where the bride was at. This was the line for the Dollar Dance. So I took my turn, I come to the guy who's collecting money for the bride and groom, and all I have is a $20 bill. I hand him a $20 bill.

Now this, like I said, was our fourth parade that day, not summer day. That does nothing for your personal hygiene. So I walk out to dance with this poor young bride, and she looks at me like, Do I have to dance with this guy? But we danced. Then I wanted to get out of there because now this is becoming a spectacle. We have become a scene. But they wouldn't have anything of that. You see, they figured out that just in the off chance that I may end up as governor of Nebraska, this was worth getting some pictures.

So we took pictures, and every once in awhile as we campaigned across the state a woman would come up and say, I'm one of the four sisters -- because there were four sisters, and I got my picture taken with them outside the sale barn.

Well, lo and behold, ladies and gentlemen, I ended up being governor of Nebraska. And so we had this big inaugural, big event. Stephanie and I are standing in a reception line, and about halfway through this very nice young couple comes up and the young lady says to me, You know Governor, fair is fair; you crashed my wedding, I'm crashing your inaugural. So.

[Laughter and applause.]

Well, thank you for having me here today. I love to tell stories, but I do have some very important things I wanted to visit with you about. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about some important subjects-- food safety, partnerships, and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Well, let me start out if I might and remember my manners and just say to all the sponsors of this great conference, please accept my thanks, my gratitude for your vision, your planning, all the hard work that went into this. I know it's been very successful; I look across the room and a lot of people are here. So we're excited about that. All of the sponsors, the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA's Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, and NSF International and NSF WHO Collaborating Center for Food Safety, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Health and Human Services, the Partnership for Food Safety Education -- all of you, we thank you so much.

It's an appropriate time for me too, ladies and gentlemen, to just tell you what an honor it is for me to be the Secretary of United States Department of Agriculture. I so love the work we do and the people that work there. They just do a tremendous job, and I'm just glad at this point in my life I get to work with them.

You know it was 144 years ago that President Abraham Lincoln created the Department of Agriculture. I'm reading this great book on Lincoln now. And when he created this department he felt very strongly about it, and he gave us a title. He gave us the title of the People's Department. We serve people.

Now in Lincoln's day the world was a lot different. In Lincoln's day 90 percent of America's population lived on farms and needed information to grow their crops. Today the Department of Agriculture -- well, we're still the People's Department; we care deeply about the people we represent and work for. And while farmers make up a very small percentage of the population, all of us are consumers and are therefore impacted by what we do.

USDA today now has many constituencies and stakeholders, and you're going to find this surprising but they don't always share the same viewpoint; however, they all agree on one thing, and that is that food safety education is a vital element in preventing food-borne illness.

I am reminded of the importance of food safety to all Americans every time I read the letters that people from all walks of life send to our Department. Let me quote from a letter that was written to us by a college student: "Recently we have been discussing the government's role in food production and food safety. There are many actions which the government has taken to make our nation's food supply safer for consumers to eat." He goes on to say in his letter, "I have learned many necessary skills to help me prepare food in a safe and in a proper way. My concern is that the majority of individuals living in our country today are not educated on those topics. Children at a young age need to be educated in school and constantly reminded throughout life relative to these topics," he says, unquote.

In my experience, consumers are very eager for information on food safety as evidenced by the letters that we do receive. Examples include a letter from a middle school teacher wanting food safety educational materials for a 20-week Foods and Life Skills class. And a mother in Pennsylvania requesting food safety and nutritional information to home school her three children ages 5 through 15.

In Nebraska and now in Washington, DC I have been constantly reminded of the importance and necessity of working together, of partnerships. This becomes even more urgent as increasing demands are placed on us, and we have limited resources to deal with it. Today every organization is faced with growing needs and shrinking budgets. This week's conference is the perfect example of a partnership having a far greater influence and accomplishing so much more than individuals, organizations, or agencies could do working alone.

One thing that makes the difference, one thing that makes this conference such a great forum is the diversity of educational and professional backgrounds and experiences that are represented here. I'm sure that even the most knowledgeable among you will learn new things about science-based food safety findings, principles, practices, and communication strategies. It is through these partnerships that together we can reach the greatest number of consumers including those who are at higher risk of food-borne illness.

Under Secretary for Food Safety Richard Raymond, also known as Doc, and I were partners in food safety in Nebraska, as well in Washington, DC. We are both committed to open and transparent government and to conferences such as this one to further food safety and allow our partners to be active participants in issues of concern.

I'm also proud to indicate that Nancy Montanez Johner is on-board at the USDA. She's on our team as the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. She was also on my team in Nebraska as director of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

See, we view strengthening existing partnerships and building new ones as very important responsibilities. A collaborative approach does not mean that everyone will agree on every policy; it's not possible. But everyone can be certain that their voice will be heard and, most importantly, that their views will be considered.

Within the USDA partnerships are vital amongst agencies. For example, the Ag Research Service coordinates with other agencies to provide the most needed and the latest research. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS as we call it, approaches food safety in terms of live animals.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service, FSIS, is the USDA's public health regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that meat and poultry and processed eggs are safe and wholesome and that they are accurately labeled.

The Food and Nutrition Service oversees school food service, Women, Infants and Children's programs, and nutrition guidelines including food safety. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, as a part of its mission, provides information on food safety directly to consumers and others.

Other agencies also become involved in food safety issues. A recent example is a coordinated and comprehensive USDA approach to prevent the illegal smuggling of geese and goose products into the United States from a country that has highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Agencies working together on this high priority effort are: FSIS, APHIS, the Office of the Inspector General, other USDA agencies, as well as agencies outside of the USDA: Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security, also great partners.

And what would all this food safety work mean without talking about some of the success stories we've seen over the past several years? I truly believe that USDA programs and FSIS science-based policies implemented over the last decade have had a major contribution to our success.

However, I know that such progress is also the result of partnerships on many levels-- with industry, other government agencies, consumer groups, health professionals, educators, stakeholders, states and local governments.

In April 2006 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a decline in food-borne illnesses as reported in the Food Borne Diseases Act of Surveillance Network Foodnet. Compared to the 1996-'98 baseline, we saw significant declines in 2005. Just to name a few-- illnesses from Listeria down 32 percent, illnesses from E-Coli down 29 percent, illnesses from Shigella down 43 percent, and illnesses from Salmonella down 9 percent.

Through diligent work by USDA, industry and others, recalls of meat and poultry and processed egg products have been cut in half during the last four years. Let me repeat that, literally cut in half during the last four years.

Now three-quarters of the way through 2006 we've had 23 recalls of these products. Let's do some comparing.

In 2004 and 2005 we had about 50 recalls each year. In 2003 we had 68 recalls. In 2002 we had 113 recalls. The trend is in the right direction. FSIS has noted a similar decline in positive regulatory samples. Since 2000, the percentage of regulatory samples that tested positive for listeria has fallen by 56 percent, so that in fiscal year 2005 only 0.64 percent of regulatory samples taken were positive for this dangerous pathogen.

This is in part because FSIS has focused its efforts on the products that present the greatest risk of being contaminated. The results are even dramatic for product sampling of e-coli. Positives have declined by nearly 80 percent. Only 0.17 percent of FSIS samples were positive in fiscal year 2005.

However, ladies and gentlemen, we cannot be satisfied with these successes. USDA must continue to improve our public health protections and prepare our food safety system for future threats using sound science before those threats can harm our consumers.

For instance, FSIS has initiated a comprehensive initiative to reduce the presence of salmonella in raw meat and poultry products by working proactively before plants develop a pattern of poor performance. FSIS is also moving toward an enhanced risk-based inspection system. The agency is absolutely committed to making sure that all of its partners continue to contribute to the critical thinking necessary for the system's success.

Our goal is a more robust system that better recognizes where attention is needed to ensure safety. Generally speaking two criteria would be used to assess risk. The first is the inherent risk associated with the product being processed. Simply stated, some products have more potential to cause illness than others regardless of the plant where they are processed.

The second is a plant's ability to control risk. Let me state that differently. It's the plant track record. This includes previous recalls, testing and the results of extensive safety assessments. It comes down to this: we want to focus our time and our energy on the plants and products with the most need and the highest potential to become the source of a food safety concern.

Let me be clear that we are talking about focusing our attention, not forgetting our responsibilities. We would continue to have daily inspections in every plant.

Let me also be very direct about our motivation. The movement to risk-based inspections is absolutely not driven by budget concerns as some have suggested. That allegation is so easily refuted by the facts. In fact, we are not reducing personnel or inspection time. Fact: We are not saving money by making this change. What we are doing is getting smarter about where we should focus our resources and our expertise to make the most difference.

This approach is grounded in science, and that makes a pretty solid foundation. It would be difficult to argue against an effort that is clearly designed to improve public health. I believe a more robust, risk-based inspection system is going to do exactly that, and I believe lives will be saved in that process.

I mentioned that we are committed to transparency throughout this transition. That means continuing to engage all individuals and groups that would be impacted and those who have expertise to offer. Let me call your attention to October 10 and 11. FSIS will hold a risk-based inspection workshop that will be open to the public. We invite everybody to come on in. The meeting will focus on efforts to measure establishment risk control and inherent risk in products, two great goals.

Earlier this year USDA undertook additional efforts working with states and private industry to protect the nation's food supply from terrorist threats. The successes I have recounted today are also the result of consumers taking control of their own health status and learning about the vital contribution they make in preventing food-borne illness.

All of our science and improved systems cannot guarantee that the food that reaches each consumer's plate is safe each and every time. That is why USDA is focusing on expanding the reach and impact of our food safety education messages to consumers and at-risk populations, and that's where many of you can play a critical role. You can be our ambassadors, our messengers.

Many of you interact every single day with the very, very people we are trying to reach. To educate them about the vulnerability of food-borne illness can be a goal of yours. I'm talking about people with weakened immune systems, cancer patients. I'm also talking about pregnant mothers and young children and seniors that may be most at risk.

These groups are considered at risk, but we can change the degree of risk through education. Proper food handling and cooking can make the difference between a delicious meal and a dangerous illness. Our challenge is in getting that message to consumers, to make it a part of their food preparation culture, and specifically this targeted group of at-risk consumers.

So I am asking you to assist in that effort. Who better to deliver the message than some of the most trusted people in the world, our doctors, our nurses, and our public health professionals? You have tremendous credibility and influence; you can make a difference.

To any other group I would suggest that you could actually save lives, but many of you do that every day. It's part of your job assignment. So I'll say to you that we hope that you will help us to save even more lives through this educational effort.

Let me just wrap up today and say I applaud you for your work. I congratulate you for your success in the past. I look forward to working with you in the future. Working together we have accomplished great things. All the nation's consumers benefit from the work that you do, and they will benefit from the work that awaits us.

Thank you for having me here today. May God bless each of you. Thank you.

[Applause.]