February 22, 2008

Dear Mr. (zties),

Thank you for contacting me in support of H.R. 962, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment (PAMTA) Act. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue, and am glad we agree.

You will be pleased to learn that I am the original sponsor of H.R. 962 and introduced it in Congress in February 2007. Today, seven classes of antibiotics certified by the FDA as "highly" or "critically" important in human medicine are used in agriculture as animal feed additives for nontherapeutic purposes, including growth promotion. This practice is a considerable contributor to the growing trend of antibiotic resistance and the spread of superbugs, making it harder and more expensive to treat common bacterial infections. Resistant bacterial infections increase health care costs by $4 billion to $5 billion each year. Of the two million Americans who acquire a bacterial infection during their hospital stay every year, 70 percent will have infections resistant to the drugs commonly used to treat them.

H.R. 962 would address this problem by phasing out the nontherapeutic use of these seven classes of antibiotics in food-producing animals, while permitting their continued therapeutic use in sick animals. H.R. 962 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Health for consideration. I am also working to generate support for the bill by asking other Members of Congress to cosponsor this legislation.

Again, thank you for sharing your views, and please do not hesitate to contact me with any future issues of concern. You may also wish to visit my website at http://www.louise.house.gov/ to see information on my legislative activities in Congress, a schedule of community events in Western New York, and special sections on constituent services.

Sincerely,

Louise Slaughter

Member of Congress

LMS:mg

Confirmation# 1494807

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