News Release
Governor Martz Joins Fellow Governors in BSE Letter to USDA
1/2/2004
Kris Goss
406-444-3862
kgoss@state.mt.us
HELENA - Governor Judy Martz joined the governors of Nebraska,
Colorado,
Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
and
South Dakota in sending the attached letter to Secretary of Agriculture
Ann
Veneman regarding BSE. The letter requests that the USDA work
cooperatively
with state governments to ensure that timely and accurate information is
passed along to the citizens of the United States on the issues
surrounding
BSE.
****************************
December 31, 2003
The Honorable Ann Veneman
United States Department of Agriculture
14th St and Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20250
Dear Secretary Veneman:
It is with the support of the governors from Colorado, Iowa, Kansas,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and
South
Dakota that I write to you today regarding the United States Department
of
Agriculture's actions in addressing the ongoing BSE situation.
To begin, please accept our collective appreciation for and continued
support of the actions by you and your staff. We feel that USDA has
done an
excellent job of communicating solid, science-based information to the
public and governmental agencies, both in the United States and abroad.
Your
actions have been swift, transparent, and purposeful. We ask that you
continue in this vein, making certain that all involved understand that
our
food safety system worked in this incident and will only get stronger
because of it.
We have been working individually to deliver the same message that you
have
delivered - that our system has worked and that our beef supply is
safe. In
fact, we have each pointed out that this single incident has not
changed our
diets in any respect. We would like to offer our collective support to
you
in any way we can to continue delivering this message.
All of our states work aggressively in promoting our products in the
international marketplace. Please understand that we can be important
allies
in the work that you are doing to reopen these markets to our beef
products.
Therefore, as you continue your efforts, we would like to offer our
assistance in helping in any way we can to promote beef, both
domestically
and to our foreign customers. As governors of beef producing states, we
stand ready to work with you in a coordinated effort, should you
determine
that to be an appropriate action to take.
In the meantime, we would like to present consistent, timely messages
as we
work individually to spread the word about the safety of our beef
supply. In
order to facilitate such messages, we would like to request USDA hold a
regular telephone briefing for governors. USDA staff could provide us
with
key, new pertinent information so we are presenting the best information
possible to our contacts, both foreign and domestic.
Again, we appreciate USDA's actions to date, and ask that you consider
the
possibility of hosting a regular briefing for governors on the issue.
Thank
you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Governor Mike Johanns, Nebraska
writing for:
Governor Judy Martz, Montana
Governor Bill Owens, Colorado
Governor Tom Vilsack, Iowa
Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas
Governor Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota
Governor Bob Holden, Missouri
Governor Bill Richardson, New Mexico
Governor John Hoeven, North Dakota
Governor Brad Henry, Oklahoma
Governor Mike Rounds, South Dakota
# # #
Kris Goss
Education Policy Advisor and Deputy Communications Director
Office of the Governor
State Capitol
Helena, MT 59620
(406) 444-3862
kgoss@state.mt.us
