WASHINGTON - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said Thursday he was confident of reaching agreement with Congress on a meat-safety bill but it may include topics beyond his targets.
"I'm pretty confident we will get a legislative package on these issues," Glickman told reporters one week after leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee set aside the administration's bill.
Glickman said he was working with leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, "trying to develop a legislative package that will get through Congress." He said it probably would cover consumer education and additional research into food-borne pathogens as well as administration requests for more power to keep suspect meat off the market.
On the heels of the record recall of 25 million lbs of hamburger patties, the Clinton administration asked for the power to mandate recalls, which currently are are voluntary and for civil penalties of up to $100,000 a day for violations in addition to the ability to deny inspection to plants with repeated or willful violations of meatpacking rules.
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