America has the safest, least expensive, most abundant food supply of any country in the world. In the past, whenever I went to the market to buy food for my family, I never stopped and wondered “Is this food safe to eat, or is it going to make my loved ones ill?” The security of our food supply, in my mind, has never been in question. I still believe that out food supply is generally safe and secure, but the recent outbreaks of both E.Coli and Salmonella have caught the country’s attention, and quite frankly, mine.

Today, we will hear troubling stories from the Armstrong, Pruden and Marshall Families. Thank you all for being here today and putting faces on these terrible outbreaks. I am deeply sorry for the pain that you have all been through, and I sincerely appreciate you coming to Congress to tell your story.

In addition to the human food safety issue, I am pleased that this committee is also investigating the recent pet food recalls. Like many of my constituents back home in Texas, I have been outraged by the contamination of pet food and the fact that thousands of beloved animals that have died. The fact that companies mixed a form of plastic with wheat gluten to manipulate the protein levels in the food is not only abhorrent, it’s criminal.

As we all learned during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Americans view their pets as members of the family, and to put a pet’s life in danger just to increase the profit line is completely and utterly unacceptable. While I realize that we have only begun out investigation into this matter this horrible practice must be stopped. Earlier this month, I sent a joint letter to both Chairman Stupak and Ranking Member Whitfield requesting that we allocate an adequate amount of time on this issue, and I thank the leadership of this committee for doing so.

I think that it is important to remember that are still many questions that need to be answered, and today is merely the beginning of a preliminary investigation into these troubling circumstances. I do welcome the companies here today to tell their side of the story and what they did to remedy the situation.

Unfortunately, nothing in this world is ever 100 percent safe; however, I look forward to hearing what the companies view as their role and responsibility in this entire situation.

Many of us in Congress may have a different opinion, but I think we can all agree that innocent people, and animals, should never have to die because of a mistake, negligence or criminal intent on another’s behalf. I look forward to this investigation and learning what needs to be done so this does not happen again.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back the remainder of my time.