both you and the distinguished gentlewoman from Washington 

 State, Mrs. Unsoeld. 



Our two committees have worked together successfully in the 

 past on the question of fish inspection, and I am satisfied with the 

 continued efforts by yourself, Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Unsoeld, and the 

 very able Chairman of this Committee, Mr. Studds. We will contin- 

 ue to do so. The work of Representative Unsoeld and her knowl- 

 edge on this issue has been extremely helpful. Her legislation has 

 been referred jointly to the two committees, and it is one which I 

 intend to see to it will move in an expeditious and proper fashion. 



The bill deals with a critical component of a comprehensive Sea- 

 food Safety Program, shellfish safety. Mrs. Unsoeld is indeed to be 

 commended for her efforts and her commitment to this matter, and 

 we shall seek to address her concerns in our discussions about this 

 matter. 



Two of your witnesses today, Mr. Chairman, appearing on behalf 

 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food 

 and Drug Administration will talk in detail about some of the pro- 

 grams under the Public Health Service Act. The Centers for Dis- 

 ease Control and Prevention, CDC, maintains surveillance of sea- 

 food illness so consumers derive better information about illness re- 

 lated to seafood. And we do, indeed, need better CDC surveillance 

 so that we can understand more clearly the role of seafood in caus- 

 ing illness, the sources of problems, and ways to correct these prob- 

 lems and therefore prevent illness. Improved CDC, State, and local 

 disease surveillance will, indeed, contribute greatly to more effec- 

 tive evaluation of the Seafood Safety Program and indeed to all of 

 our food safety programs, and, again, I reiterate my pledge of sup- 

 port for your efforts in these matters and in improvement in CDC 

 programs. 



The Food and Drug Administration operates a Seafood Safety 

 Program which includes standards setting, mandatory inspection, 

 and sampling and enforcement. Congress has held oversight hear- 

 ings about the program for very good reason. We were concerned 

 about seafood safety. We have seen to it that the program has re- 

 ceived increased fundings over the last several years, so that it can 

 be more effective as the industry changes and as consumer prefer- 

 ences change. We need to continue to be vigilant so that the pro- 

 gram has the necessary authority, resources, and funds that it re- 

 quires to be effective. 



I will say this: Our Subcommittee on Oversight has run a 

 number of hearings and investigations and inquiries into the ques- 

 tion of the overall matter of safety of seafood, shellfish, and similar 

 issues. We find that resources are inadequate, the basic statutes 

 are not strong enough, and that consumers are not receiving the 

 protection they require because of that inadequacy overall. Happi- 

 ly, some increases in funding have occurred and the situation is 

 now better. More needs to be done and the legislation before us 

 will significantly contribute to that end. 



Consumers are concerned about seafood, and they properly 

 should be. We continue to hear press reports about illness related 

 to eating fish or shellfish. Just within these past few weeks we 

 have been warned again about the risk associated with eating raw 

 oysters. This worries consumers who wonder whether they are vul- 



