Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley – along with 13 other Senators – sent a letter to leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee Monday to ensure USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service receives necessary funding to aid states with the avian influenza outbreak. Given the recent unforeseen increase in confirmed avian influenza cases and their rapid spread throughout the country since President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request was released – the Senators urge the Subcommittee or Committee to make funding for the APHIS avian health program a high priority in order to continue these critical avian influenza response measures in the next fiscal year. So far – the disease has impacted more than 20-million birds across 11 counties in Iowa.
Source: NAFB News Service