AGRICULTURE SUBCOMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING TO REVIEW BIOTECHNOLOGY
Subcommittee Also Marks Up Lucas’s Legislation To Prevent Conservation Funds From Being Spent on Other Projects

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Frank Lucas, Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development, and Research, convened a hearing today to review biotechnology in agriculture and federal responsibilities for regulating genetically modified foods and plants.

In his opening statement Chairman Lucas touched upon troubling remarks made during floor debate of H. Res. 252, legislation which commended the Administration for challenging the long-standing European Union moratorium on agriculture and food biotech products.

Lucas said, “Some statements on the House Floor erroneously suggested that products of biotechnology were not regulated. I find it quite interesting that I have before me three witnesses from three different agencies and all of them have a hand in regulating products of biotechnology.”

The hearing featured witnesses from the three federal agencies involved in the “Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology,” a framework established in 1986 which determined that biotechnology products be regulated according to their characteristics and novel features and not by their method of production, and that this be done under the existing web of federal statutory authority and regulation.

Comprising the witness panel were Mr. David Hegwood, Special Counsel to the Secretary of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. Lester M. Crawford, D.V.M, Ph.D., Deputy Commissioner for Food and Drugs, United States Food and Drug Administration and Mr. Stephen L. Johnson, Assistant Administrator, Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Testifying before the Committee, Dr. Crawford with FDA said, “We believe it is very important for the public to understand how FDA is regulating the new bioengineered foods being introduced into the marketplace and to have confidence in that process…First, let me state that FDA is confident that the bioengineered foods on the U.S. market today are as safe as their conventional counterparts.”

Ranking Member, Rep. Tim Holden said, “The Biotechnology industry has experienced tremendous growth over the past ten years. We have witnessed many breakthroughs and while we must ensure that EPA, USDA and FDA have the proper balance of testing, we must allow for innovation."

Following the hearing, the Subcommittee marked up, and passed by voice vote, H.R. 1907, legislation introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Lucas and ranking Member, Rep. Tim Holden. This bill would amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to prevent conservation funds from being spent on other projects, by requiring that funds set aside for conservation programs can only be spent on those programs. The bill ensures that mandatory funds for four conservation programs - the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Farmland Protection Program, the Grassland Reserve Program, and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, will be spent only on those programs.

"This bill will give Congress and USDA time to work on a rational solution without redirecting funds that will never be returned to the donor programs" Lucas said. "It will place funds back into those programs that have been raided and prevent it from happening in the future until another mechanism for technical assistance can be found."

Two weeks ago Lucas's Subcommittee held a hearing on technical assistance for Farm Bill conservation programs.

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