McCain presses for catfish amendment

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday renewed his years-long battle over catfish.

McCain wants to get an amendment to end the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s catfish inspection program included in fast-track trade legislation, which would allow the president to get his trade deals approved by a simple majority vote in Congress. 

{mosads}“I’ve been fighting this catfish battle for a long time. I first tried to kill an old catfish labeling program in the 2002 farm bill,” McCain said on the Senate floor. 

“All I want is a vote. All I’m asking for is a vote, up-or-down on whether or not we should continue to squander millions of taxpayers’ dollars.”

The Arizona Republican added that approximately $20 million has been spent so far on setting up the department’s catfish office. 

McCain said that requiring USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to both inspect catfish is “duplicative.” He accused his southern colleagues of requiring that the USDA inspect catfish as a way to discourage global competition. 

“The true purpose of the catfish program is to create a trade barrier to protect catfish farmers in two or three southern states,” he said. “Let’s be clear what this is all about.”

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said the USDA’s program wouldn’t be repetitive, because once it’s operational the FDA’s program will be transferred to the Agriculture Department. 

“USDA has testified before Congress that when the program is operational, as it is about to be, the FDA program would be eliminated,” he said. 

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) suggested that the Senate has already made it clear that USDA can inspect catfish, adding that “it has been debated and resolved.”

Despite taking to the Senate floor to push for his amendment, McCain warned that “it’s very likely that a cloture motion will be filed” on the trade legislation, which would end debate and prevent amendments from being offered. 

“If we don’t allow this amendment, I have to say that we are really, really showing a degree of contempt and arrogance for the taxpayers of America,” he said.