Today I wish to highlight a recent undercover video produced by the Humane Society of the United States. This video displays the appalling methods used by employees at the California-based Hallmark Meat Packing company during the processing of cattle, as well as the unacceptable state of USDA's oversight of meat packing operations.

The video documents horrifying scenes of employees using electrical prods to shock animals, pulling them with chains, and carelessly driving over them with a forklift in an effort to bring sick or injured cows to their feet. These cruel actions amount to nothing less than torture. There was even a case of using a hose to forcibly spray water into a cow's nose to get it to rise to its feet to avoid the sensation of drowning.

Currently, the state of California has laws in place that specifically prohibit the kinds of activities taking place at Hallmark. In addition, because of the health hazards associated with so-called "downer" cattle, which are those unable to stand and walk due to either injury or illness, USDA in 2003 passed a regulation prohibiting the processing of such animals. According to USDA's own reports, there is a much higher incidence of mad cow disease in these animals, and they are also much more susceptible to pathogens like E. Coli and Salmonella.

The actions of this slaughterhouse, and possibly countless others, in violation of established laws, has put our most vulnerable and important assets in danger - our children. The animals processed by this facility are supplied to the Westland Meat Company, which is the second-largest provider of beef to USDA's Commodity Procurement Branch. This arm of USDA distributes the meat to needy families and also to more than 100,000 schools across America through the National School Lunch Program. I shudder when I think of how many other of the nation's 6,200 slaughterhouses could be evading oversight and endangering the lives of countless Americans.

The two daily scheduled USDA inspections at the Hallmark facility are obviously no deterrent to the abhorrent practices being performed there. In fact, the very short and superficial nature of the inspections serve to encourage workers to do anything they can to bring a sick animal to its feet just long enough to pass inspection before being slaughtered.

In order to ensure the safety of our nation's food supply, ensure animals are treated humanely and with respect, and protect our families and children from possible life-threatening illnesses, we must act. Atrocities such as those exposed by the Humane Society must be swiftly abolished, and effective oversight measures put in place immediately.

USDA needs to shore up inspections, hold slaughterhouses accountable and uphold food safety standards, and ensure that cattle and dairy farmers are aware that non-ambulatory cattle will not be accepted for processing. It is also imperative that we, Congress, ensure that downer livestock is unable to enter our food chain, and the best way to accomplish this task is to codify the prohibition of downer livestock from entering our food supply.

Mr. President, I introduced S. 394, the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act, to fill a gap in the current USDA and the Food and Drug Administration regulations. It calls for the humane euthanization of nonambulatory livestock. The euthanization of nonambulatory livestock would remove this high risk population from the portion of livestock reserved for our consumption. Due to the presence of other prion diseases found throughout other species of livestock, all animals that fit under the definition of livestock are included in this bill.

The benefits of my bill are numerous, for both the public and the industry. On the face of it, the bill will prevent needless suffering by humanely euthanizing nonambulatory animals. The removal of downed animals from our food chain will insure that it is safer and of better quality. The reduction in the likelihood of disease would result in safer working conditions for persons handling livestock. This added protection against disease would help the flow of livestock and livestock products in interstate and foreign commerce, making commerce in livestock more easily attainable.

We must act now and call upon USDA to make the necessary changes to ensure that the atrocities demonstrated at this slaughterhouse are not repeated elsewhere. In addition, I urge my colleagues to support passage of the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act.

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