Senate Bill Includes $20 Million for CWD, Kohl, Feingold, Obey Announce 11/7/03 WASHINGTON The Senate late last night included $20 million in funding for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) eradication efforts as part of the FY04 appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and Rep. David Obey announced today. At least $2 million of the funding will be directed to Wisconsin. Kohl the ranking member of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Feingold, and Obey, ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, had identified CWD eradication as a priority for funding. "There remains a pressing need to eradicate CWD in Wisconsin and federal dollars are urgently needed to help the State's efforts. This funding, a significant increase from previous years, reflects that. Today's funding will lead to additional research and equipment for the State as it battles this devastating disease," Kohl said. "This money is acutely needed, and I applaud Senator Kohl and Congressman Obey for their efforts as members of the appropriations committee to get this money to Wisconsin," Feingold said. "It is long past time for the federal government to make chronic wasting disease a higher priority. The funds headed to Wisconsin are a good step in helping our state's CWD eradication efforts." "It is essential, culturally and economically, that we continue to help Wisconsin get a handle on this disease," Obey said. "Hunting is part of our way of life, a part of what it means to be from Wisconsin and we have to preserve that. Economically, important industries like tourism and game farms have already been hit. This is the third year we've included funding in the federal budget to help the states deal with Chronic Wasting Disease, but Wisconsin is currently taking the hardest hit, and that's why we have inserted funding specifically to help Wisconsin meet the cost of dealing with the problem." Today's funding will be directed to nationwide efforts to eliminate CWD, including research, containment, surveillance, monitoring and testing. Last year, Kohl, Feingold and Obey worked to secure $14.9 million in the FY2003 appropriations bill for CWD eradication. Prior to that, they included $17 million in emergency funds to combat CWD as part of the FY2002 Supplemental Appropriations Bill. Earlier this week, Congress cleared for presidential signature the Interior Appropriations bill which included $4.2 million to accelerate and expand research on CWD. This represents an increase of $1 million over last year and is $375,000 above the Administration's budget request. Included in the amount is $250,000 to establish a U.S. Geological Survey wildlife disease center in Wisconsin. The Agriculture Appropriations bill must now be approved by a House-Senate conference committee.

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