(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (New York-28th District) is publicly thanking the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) for endorsing her bill - H.R. 1549/The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act - and agreeing that excessive antibiotic use is a serious public health issue that leads to drug-resistant bacteria.
Last year, Slaughter introduced the bill - which has 13 co-sponsors - to protect seven types of antibiotics from being indiscriminately used in animal feed.
“This is a welcome step and an important momentum builder,” Slaughter said. “I appreciate AFSCME taking a stand on this critical health issue and I’m glad that they came down on the side of science and public health. This legislation is common sense will ensure that antibiotics keep Americans safe. Our doctors need every tool they can get to take care of their patients.”
The resolution issued by AFSCME read, in part: “The use of low doses of human antibiotics in factory farms, given routinely to perfectly healthy farm animals, is a major cause of antibiotic resistance, diminishing the efficacy of antibiotics for human use, creating a growing public health threat of antibiotic resistance. These antibiotics, which are vital to protecting human health for everything from skin infections to salmonella to bacterial pneumonia, should always be administered judiciously.”
