Guest guest Posted July 12, 2001 Report Share Posted July 12, 2001 URGENT, REJECT PRO-MEAT IRRADIATION NOMINATION . Action Alert, 7/11/2001 President George W. Bush has nominated Elsa Murano from Texas A & M University to be the next Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In reporting this appointment, the Associated Press stated the following: BUSH NOMINATES FOOD SAFETY CHIEF July 10, 2001 WASHINGTON (AP) -- A microbiologist who advocates the use of irradiation to kill food-borne pathogens was nominated by President Bush on Tuesday to oversee the Agriculture Department's food-safety programs. Elsa Murano, 41, is director of the Center for Food Safety at Texas A & M University, where she has done research on a variety of pathogens, including E. coli O157:H7, and methods for destroying them, including irradiation. If her nomination is confirmed by the Senate, she would become USDA's undersecretary for food safety. USDA is responsible for ensuring the safety of meat and poultry products and shares regulation of eggs with the Food and Drug Administration. FDA regulates other foods. " We really feel strongly about food safety and we wanted to make sure we had a qualified person for this position, " Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said. The department is considering new testing standards for meat and processed meats, such as hot dogs, as well as beef and poultry.... Murano did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday but she has in past expressed confidence that consumers will eventually overcome their misgivings about having food irradiated. " If consumers realize what you are doing is applying energy to food, and realize the food will not be changed in any way, they will accept it, " she said. The government approved the use of irradiation on meat last year and is expected to decide soon whether to allow it for luncheon meats, hot dogs and other precooked meat products. What is perplexing about this appointment is the fact that Murano's would-be boss, USDA Secretary Ann Veneman, stated earlier this year that consumers will not purchase irradiated food - no matter what it is called. To say the least, Murano does not share Veneman skepticism about food irradiation. Last June, Murano erroneously compared irradiation with microwaving in an effort to make the process sound less ominous. One month later, Texas A & M signed a 10-year, $10 million research and development deal with the Titan Corporation, a leading food irradiation company and defense contractor with close ties to the federal government. Under the deal, Titan gave the school three irradiation machines. In return, Texas A & M employees are operating the machines for Titan - irradiating food for commercial sale - for free or at discounted prices. And, Murano recently advocated introducing irradiated food into the National School Lunch Program. Murano's nomination is subject to confirmation by the full U.S. Senate. Her nomination will first be scrutinized by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Please , let's write and call Senators in Senate Agriculture to block confirmation of Elsa Murano To be Under Secretary for Food Safety at USDA. We urge you to CALL/WRITE the chairman of that committee, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) as well as all of the other Senators, to express your opposition to the Murano nomination. Thanks for your caring , compassion and urgent help. ==================================== SAMPLE LETTER : Please place your Name, Address, U.S. Constituents(if live in USA) at the beginning and the end of your letter if you send by Email . You may write your own letter if you wish. thanks. FROM: Your Name Your Address City, State, Zip U.S. Constituents. SUBJECT : Please reject Elsa Murano's nomination as Under Secretary of Food Safety at USDA. Dear Senator : I am writing to express my opposition to the nomination of Elsa Murano to be the next Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I oppose her nomination because she seems to have one strategy to deal with the issue of food safety - irradiation. I do not believe that we know enough about the safety of that technology to make it the chief method to eliminate food-borne pathogens. In addition, she has made erroneous public comments about irradiation, such as comparing the process to microwaving. (See Important References # 1, # 2, # 3, # 4). What is even more disturbing is her close connection with the food irradiation industry, which has rewarded her advocacy of food irradiation by donating millions of dollars of research funds and equipment to her food safety program at Texas A & M University. As you know, the position of Under Secretary for Food Safety is a critical one at USDA. The Under Secretary is responsible for administering some key laws and programs that safeguard the safety and wholesomeness of our food supply. Among those include the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Egg Products Inspection Act, the Talmadge-Aiken Act, the Humane Slaughter Act and the Food Safety Research Program. I question whether Murano has the experience and the qualifications to fulfill all of the responsibilities of this position. I urge you to reject Murano's nomination and tell the Bush Administration to send the Senate a nominee who is clearly qualified to fill this position. Sincerely, Your Name Your Address City, State, Zip U.S. Constituents Important References : 1: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/rad-food/radfoodindex.htm 2: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/rad-food/Index%20Fact%20Sheet.htm 3: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/rad-food/PRFTCSurebeamcomplaint.htm 4: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/rad-food/prsymposium.htm (***** Letter ends here ***** ) ============================================ CONTACT INFORMATION : (All of the U.S. Senators information can be obtained from: http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm) 1: First, please CALL/EMAIL to Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee : 731 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Tel: (202) 224-3254 EMAIL: tom_harkin (@harkin.senate.gov ) Please address to: Dear Honorable Senator Harkin, ------------------------ 2: Please Copy and Paste the following list of Agriculture Committee into BCC field in your Email. Then put your own email address in the TO field before you hit Send. note: it must have a comma between addresses. BE CAREFUL before you hit SEND, check everything correctly! BE POLITE ! Please address to : Dear Senator , or : Dear Honorable Senator, Remember, put your name , address and " U.S. Constituent " at the begining and the end of the letter (email). senator_lugar, senator, senator_fitzgerald, senator.hutchinson, senator, jesse_helms, senator, senator_leahy, senator, tom_daschle, --------------------- 3: The following two Senators in Senate Agriculture Committee do not have Email address nor Website either, please CALL them : Senator Ben Nelson(D-NE): Tel: (202) 224-6551 Senator Mark Dayton (D - MN): Tel: (202) 224-3244 ------------------- 4: Please Copy and Paste the following list into BCC field in your Email. Then put your own email address or your other address in the TO field before you hit Send. note: it must have a comma between addresses. BE CAREFUL before you hit SEND, please check everything correctly ! BE POLITE ! Please address to : Dear Senator , or : Dear Honorable Senator, Remember, put your name , address and " U.S. Constituent " at the end of the letter (email). This will reach to all of the US Senators. (ATTENTION: PLEASE DO NOT ABUSE THIS LIST The most important tools to communcate with the Congress is by Phone Calls , Faxes, Postal Mails!!!) Senator, senator, senator.hutchinson, blanche_lincoln, info, senator_mccain, senator, senator_allard, administrator, senator, senator_lieberman, senator, comments, bob_graham, connie, senator_max_cleland, senator_coverdell, senator, senator, chuck_grassley, tom_harkin, larry_craig, dick, senator_fitzgerald, senator_lugar, sam_brownback, pat_roberts, jim_bunning, senator, senator, senator, senator, john_kerry, senator, john_kerry, senator, senator, michigan, senator, michigan, mail_grams, senator, john_ashcroft, kit_bond, senator, senatorlott, max, conrad_burns, senator, jesse_helms, senator, senator, chuck_hagel, mailbox, opinion, frank_lautenberg, senator_torricelli, senator_bingaman, senator_domenici, senator, senator_reid, senator, senator_dewine, senator_voinovich, jim_inhofe, senator, Oregon, senator, senator, senator_specter, senator_chafee, jack, senator, senator, tim_johnson, senator_frist, senator_thompson, administrator, senator, senator, senator_hatch, senator_robb, senator, vermont, senator_leahy, senator_gorton, senator_murray, Russell_Feingold, senator_kohl, senator_byrd, senator, senator, craig, senator, senator2, comments, senator, tom_daschle, senator_carnahan, senator, olympia, phil_gramm, senator, senator, senator, tim, tom_harkin, webmaster, historian, curator, info, postmaster, mailbox, mailbox, admin, comments, webmaster, Year2000, webmaster, ----------------- 5: The following Senators are very IMPORTANT . They do not have email address nor web address. You do need to send thru each of their websites : http://murkowski.senate.gov/webmail.html http://cantwell.senate.gov/mailform.html http://bayh.senate.gov/WebMail.html http://miller.senate.gov/email.html http://www.senate.gov/~crapo/webform.html http://grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm http://www.senate.gov/~roberts/email.htm http://thomas.senate.gov/html/contact.html http://allard.senate.gov/contactme/index.cfm http://crapo.senate.gov/email.htm http://daschle.senate.gov/webform.htm http://baucus.senate.gov/EmailMax.htm http://www.senate.gov/~wellstone/webform.html ===================================== The above Campaign Reference Source from : If any question contact: NPETRIE (@citizen.org ) http://www.citizen.org/cmep/rad-food/radfoodindex.htm http://www.citizen.org/cmep To to the stopirradiation list send and email to cmep (@citizen.org ) with the words " stopirradiation " in the subject. ======================================== Thanks so much for your caring, compassion and urgent help. 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