mr. chairman , today i rise in support of this amendment to strike the language which would once again delay full implementation and rightful implementation of country-of-origin labeling for meat and meat products . 
congress authorized mandatory cool in the 2002 farm bill , and delaying it further is an injustice to american farmers , ranchers , and consumers . 
according to the food and drug administration , which is the federal agency charged with ensuring food safety , less than 1 percent of all food products imported into the united states are inspected by customs . 
if a meat product enters the country shelf-ready , such as ground beef , it is not required at all to be inspected by the usda . 
a usda approval stamp only appears on meat products which have been transformed into a graded cut . 
what this means is that less than 1 percent of the beef that is imported from foreign countries is inspected by the usda . 
the usda is in place to protect us . 
as a housewife and a mother , i would gladly pay a few extra cents on every pound of hamburger or on every pound of beef that i buy if i knew that that beef was produced in the united states , because i would have a sense of safety that my family was eating meat that was inspected , because all american beef is inspected . 
essentially , a shipment such as ground beef could be imported into america from a foreign country and wind up on a family 's dinner table having never been inspected by american authorities . 
without the implementation of mandatory cool , we will continue under a voluntary program , and the status quo clearly does not effectively protect the safety of american consumers . 
america 's agriculture industry produces some of the safest , highest quality products in the world . 
if given a chance , americans will choose american products time and time again . 
