Key U.S. Representatives this week introduced legislation to protect poultry producers and consumers from a President Biden-era regulation known as the “Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products.”
The bill, introduced by Rep. Tracey Mann (KS-1), chair of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry, and Rep. Steve Womack (AR-3), co-chair of the Congressional Chicken Caucus, would prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from using federal funds to carry out its proposed rule regarding Salmonella, which the bill’s sponsors noted is “not based in science nor indicates a significant impact on consumer health.”
The proposed rule disregards data from USDA that found Salmonella outbreaks have decreased 60 percent since 2020 and that more than 97 percent of whole chickens tested negative for Salmonella as recently as 2022.
“American families have been clear about the weight that skyrocketing food prices and inflation have had on their ability to put food on their tables,” Rep. Mann said. “Rather than coming up with real solutions to drive down costs and make life easier for Americans, President Biden dug his heels deeper in his war on rural America with costly, burdensome regulations. My bill blocks USDA from using taxpayer dollars to implement arbitrary science to burden American families, and it protects America’s livestock producers who work day in and day out to feed a hungry world. I look forward to working with President Trump to end bad, Biden-era nonsense like this.”
“The Biden Administration’s proposed Salmonella Framework places burdensome, unnecessary testing requirements on our nation’s poultry producers,” Rep. Womack said. “This leads to higher costs at the grocery store for consumers. I’m proud to help Congressman Mann introduce this bill to prevent federal funding from being used to implement this ludicrous regulatory requirement. I look forward to working with President Trump’s USDA to support America’s farmers and producers—the backbone of our great nation.
The National Chicken Council supports the legislation, which can be found here.
