days. I suspect that between us we will have the chance not only to 

 work on this matter but perhaps to assist our good friend, Mr. 

 Hamilton, as he goes about his business of recommending the reor- 

 ganization of the House and seeing to it that even that document 

 achieves the required level of perfection. 



Mr. Manton. Again, I thank the Chairman and I recognize the 

 gentlewoman from Washington. 



Mrs. Unsoeld. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank 

 you very much, Mr. Chairman (Dingell). Obviously, it was appropri- 

 ate that I allowed you to speak first and hopefully between us we 

 will indeed impress upon the administration the importance of 

 working with our two committees. 



Mr. Dingell. We did a great job, if you will recall, in the last 

 Congress. We assisted the leadership of this body. We assisted our 

 good friends on the Agriculture Committee. We assisted our good 

 friends downtown in the administration. We assisted some of the 

 consumer groups who were slightly errant on one occasion, and we 

 even assisted the Majority Leader in the Senate to achieve the 

 right conscience and a proper conclusion to a legislative problem. 



STATEMENT OF HON. JOLENE UNSOELD, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 

 FROM WASHINGTON 



Mrs. Unsoeld. With such a Chairman at your side you hardly 

 need anyone else. 



Mr. Chairman, if one is to believe recent media reports, millions 

 of Americans sitting down for seafood tonight are going to dine on 

 an appetizer of nervousness and a main course of fear. Consumer 

 Reports, CBS Evening News, Time Magazine and most recently 

 even The Washington Post have all questioned the effectiveness of 

 the current Federal regulatory system for shellfish. The fuel that 

 feeds these fires is real. 



Toxics, such as vibrio, red tides and domoic acid, and economic 

 fraud in the seafood trade pose significant health risks, health 

 risks Congress attempted to address during the last Congress when 

 our Committee, together with the distinguished leadership of the 

 Energy and Commerce Committee, drafted comprehensive seafood 

 safety legislation. The centerpiece of that proposal, which was ap- 

 proved by this Committee and the House, was the establishment of 

 a National Shellfish Safety Program. 



Widespread support and justification was evident in testimony to 

 this Committee by the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference: 

 "While the present cooperative shellfish program has been out- 

 standing in evaluating State programs and making progressive rec- 

 ommendations, it is not structured to address imminent health con- 

 cerns associated with seafood products. This additional legislation 

 is needed to give the designated Federal agency more authority to 

 adequately regulate the safety of seafood." 



The unfortunate demise of this comprehensive legislation, Mr. 

 Chairman, prompted me to initiate discussions with the industry 

 and FDA focusing more narrowly on the issues of shellfish safety 

 and the concept of a National Shellfish Safety Program. The result 

 of this effort, H.R. 1412, the Shellfish Safety Act. This bill is based 

 upon the previous efforts of our committees and incorporates many 



