SEN. TALENT DISCUSSES AGROTERRORISM AT UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SUMMIT

(COLUMBIA)  U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.) today said America has the most abundant, affordable and safest food supply in the world, but that more can be done to protect it against those who might be seeking to disrupt our economy by taking aim at America's agriculture system.  Sen. Talent joined regional and national Agroterrorism experts at a summit sponsored by the University of Missouri-Columbia to address fundamental research, technology and education strategies necessary to significantly counter terrorist acts against the nation's agricultural critical infrastructure.
 
"I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss this important issue this morning and I appreciate the University for their leadership and for inviting me to address the summit," said Sen. Talent.  "With the holiday season upon us, it is important that we reassure Americans that our nation's food supply is not only the most abundant and affordable in the world, but it's the safest.  This was true before September 11th and it remains true today.  But what we are all recognizing is that a system that was designed to protect against unintentional mistakes that might allow pests or disease into the system is not necessarily designed as well as it should be to protect against an intentional attack.  We have begun that transition in the last several years, but we need to make certain that we complete it as soon as possible because the stakes are high."

Sen. Talent is Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Marketing, Inspection and Product Promotion that has jurisdiction over the issue Agroterrorism and recently testified before a Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the issue where he discussed the relationship between a healthy agriculture industry and the nation's economy.  

Sen. Talent discussed the hearing at the Summit and again pointed out that recent international disease and contamination epidemics illustrate the need for America to strengthen its food safety to protect citizens as well as jobs and our economy.  Sen. Talent pointed out that in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, the value of livestock and poultry products alone is more than $20 billion dollars.

"The twin pillars of Missouri's economy are agribusiness and tourism," said Talent.  "An outbreak of BSE, FMD, or something like that in Missouri or anywhere near it would have a devastating impact on the economy, depending on how prepared we are and how quickly we act.  The Midwest Alliance is leading the nation on Agroterrorism preparedness and applaud the University of Missouri system, Washington University, the Midwest Research Institute and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, for its cutting edge research efforts and I want to continue working with the Alliance as well as the Department of Homeland Security on this issue."

Sen. Talent praised Missouri producers for doing their part in cooperating to prevent Agroterrorism and stressed the need for better cooperation and coordination among agencies, emphasizing the importance of timing and anticipating where a potential attack is most likely to occur.

"We need to have protocols in place to detect potential diseases and respond as quickly as possible," said Talent.  "It took the Europeans two weeks to discover FMD in their domestic livestock and that is too long.  The producers are already cooperating.  It is their job to stay in touch with their herds and cattle.  They know what is going on and they are participating in protocols with public health agencies, veterinarians, and law enforcement, so we can count on them to do their part."