Full Text of HR0979 93rd General Assembly
HR0979 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Approximately 40% of the meat and poultry | 3 |
| operations in the United States operate under state inspection | 4 |
| in 28 of the 50 states, including a large number of operations | 5 |
| in the State of Illinois, which operates a State inspection | 6 |
| program; and
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| WHEREAS, The Federal Meat Inspection Act prohibits | 8 |
| state-inspected plants from selling their products in other | 9 |
| states, even though they follow the same inspection regulations | 10 |
| as USDA plants; and
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| WHEREAS, There have been attempts made to change the law to | 12 |
| allow the shipping of state-inspected meat and poultry products | 13 |
| in interstate commerce for the past 30 years; and
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| WHEREAS, The changing of the law is tied to the survival | 15 |
| and success of the small meat and poultry processing industry | 16 |
| in the United States, and while there has been more of a drop | 17 |
| in the number of small and very small plants in the United | 18 |
| States that operate under USDA inspection (mostly in states | 19 |
| where that is the only kind of inspection available), there has | 20 |
| been a greater stability in the number of small and very small | 21 |
| plants that operate under state inspection; and
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| WHEREAS, A broad array of stakeholders inside and outside | 23 |
| of the meat industry across the United States now support | 24 |
| shipment of products across state lines by plants that are | 25 |
| inspected by "equal to" state meat inspection programs; this | 26 |
| group of stakeholders includes large, medium, and small meat | 27 |
| establishments, groups, and governments, including the USDA | 28 |
| and members of Congress; and
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| WHEREAS, The issue has become even more critical today as a | 30 |
| result of the continuing consolidation of the meat industry, |
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| including the closing and disappearance of small and very small | 2 |
| meat establishments and their acquisition by larger companies, | 3 |
| including those small and very small meat establishments in the | 4 |
| State of Illinois; and
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| WHEREAS, One way to fight this consolidation, which | 6 |
| Congress has expressed concern about, is to strengthen small | 7 |
| businesses by allowing them to ship across state lines, thereby | 8 |
| increasing their markets, strengthening their economic power, | 9 |
| and helping the rural regions of Illinois and other states | 10 |
| where meat plants operate under state inspection; therefore, be | 11 |
| it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 13 |
| NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 14 |
| endorse the changing of the Federal Meat Inspection Act to | 15 |
| allow state-inspected meat and poultry plants to ship their | 16 |
| products across state lines in this State and in other states | 17 |
| where "equal to" state inspection programs operate; and be it | 18 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to take action as soon as | 20 |
| possible to change the law to allow interstate shipment of | 21 |
| state-inspected meat products; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That we urge the Congressional delegation of | 23 |
| Illinois to play a leadership role in this action, including | 24 |
| the Speaker of the House and members of the Senate Committee on | 25 |
| Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, House Committee on | 26 |
| Agriculture, Senate Committee on Small Business and | 27 |
| Entrepreneurship, and House Committee on Small Business; and be | 28 |
| it further | 29 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 30 |
| delivered to the President pro tempore of the United States | 31 |
| Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of |
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| Representatives, each member of the Senate Committee on | 2 |
| Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, House Committee on | 3 |
| Agriculture, Senate Committee on Small Business and | 4 |
| Entrepreneurship, and House Committee on Small Business, and | 5 |
| each member of the Illinois Congressional delegation.
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