020202 USDA Wants $131M More for Food SafetyFebruary 2, 2002Washington - The Bush administration is proposing $131 million in new spending next year on programs to improve food safety and prevent agricultural diseases. The increase would include a 50 percent boost in spending, or an additional $49 million, for faster testing of livestock for diseases such as foot-and-mouth. The money will be included in President Bush's proposed 2003 budget for the Agriculture Department, officials said Wednesday. There would be smaller increases of 3 percent to 6 percent for various research and inspection programs and the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of meat and poultry. USDA's overall budget would be cut slightly, said department spokeswoman Alisa Harrison. She said she didn't know how much. The full budget won't be released until next week, but the administration has been periodically releasing details about planned hikes in spending. The administration is proposing increasing spending for USDA's Women, Infants and Children feeding program by $364 million to $4.75 billion, enough to serve an average of 7.8 million people each month. Bush also wants to restore food stamps to many immigrants who were cut off from the benefits by the 1996 overhaul of federal welfare programs. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the higher spending for animal disease testing would help prevent outbreaks such as the foot-and-mouth problem that devastated Britain's livestock industry last year. "It got way too spread out before anybody knew about it," Veneman told a gathering of USDA employees in Savannah, Ga. Other budget requests include: - Boosting spending on inspections at airports and other ports-of-entry by $19 million, or nearly 6 percent, to pay for additional inspectors and dogs to check luggage for food and plants that could carry insects or diseases. - A 6 percent increase, or $24 million, for research into preventing animal pests and diseases. - Increasing the Food Safety and Inspection Service's budget by $28 million, or 3 percent.
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