| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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| June 19, 2003 |
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WASHINGTON –
U.S. Reps. Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) and Mark Green (R-Green Bay) today
participated in a congressional hearing on their legislation to establish a
unified federal response to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and provide more
funding to states to help them combat it.
“Today’s hearing gives us a crucial forum to
spotlight CWD and make sure federal and state agencies present a united front
to fight this disease,” Ryan said. “I’m
a bow and gun hunter, and I’m very concerned about CWD’s impact on our
state’s hunters and their families and the many businesses that hunting
supports. Our legislation pushes
for more resources, research and testing to help Wisconsin and other states
deal effectively with CWD.”
“With this bill,
we’re working to plow more dollars into state coffers so states like
Wisconsin are better able to fight CWD on the front lines,” Green said.
“We’re also establishing a unified federal strategy for tackling
this disease to ensure we maximize national resources dedicated to CWD -
providing a central pool of funding, expertise and other resources for states
to draw upon as they continue their work to contain CWD on the ground.”
Green and Ryan are original co-sponsors of the measure
– H.R. 2057, the CWD Support for States Act of 2003 – which would improve
coordination of action taken by federal agencies that have jurisdiction over
this matter and support state efforts to control and eradicate CWD.
Among its provisions, their bill calls for the creation of a national
database for CWD in both captive and wild herds, the development of a national
surveillance and monitoring program, diagnostic testing of collected samples
for captive and wild herds, and further research on CWD.
The legislation also establishes grant-in-aid programs
for state efforts to grapple with the disease, giving priority to states like
Wisconsin where the CWD problem is significant and where the state has shown a
great commitment of resources to fighting CWD.