The KMT caucus condemned the DPP for paralyzing the plenary session again.
At a press conference, KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) accused the DPP of refusing to negotiate relevant proposals even if the KMT had proposed a week ago to “ban the import of beef materials or products that are found risky or inedible.”
Showing reporters a number of snapshots of yesterday morning’s plenary session, KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said only three DPP legislators — Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) and Kuo Wen-cheng (郭玟成) — participated in the boycott, while the remaining 25 DPP lawmakers were absent.
Lu accused the DPP of manipulating the controversy for political gain in the elections.
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) alleged that the DPP mobilized supporters to paralyze his phone lines in protest against his proposed amendment to the act.
Kung’s proposal sought to “draw up measures to inspect beef products from areas where the risk of mad cow disease has been under control.”
Kung said his cellphone and the phone at his office had been paralyzed by angry callers since an anonymous Netizen posted an article on Coolloud — a Web site for civic groups to publicize press releases and press conference notices — calling on the public to call the 22 KMT legislators endorsing Kung’s proposal.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said yesterday that Burghardt could not be more erroneous on the safety of US beef, demanding the US envoy recant his statement that US beef was safe for human consumption.
“It is possible that because Burghardt does not live on the continental US, he has lost touch with the current situation [of beef safety] and needs to be taught a lesson,” Huang said.
The TSU said the Consumer Union — a US-based consumer protection foundation — is engaged in a dispute with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), arguing that the US private meat plants should be allowed to conduct their own tests on cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Huang said that the Consumer Union has long questioned the safety of US beef because of the prevalent practice of using chicken excrement as part of cow feed.
Such a practice has been blamed for being a source of BSE and other neurological diseases found in US cattle, Huang said.
Although the Consumer Union has formally asked the FDA to allow private meat establishments to conduct their own BSE tests, which the TSU said would only cost US$0.10 per test, the US government has flatly refused to do so, he said.
“Burghardt was obviously dead wrong when he said US beef is safe for human consumption and that no one in the US worries about its safety. He must recant his statement because, Mr Burghardt, you are wrong,” Huang said.
RSS