Agriculture inspections fall off,...after Homeland Security took duty

Agriculture inspections fall off
Growers fear infestations after Homeland Security took USDA's border duty.

WASHINGTON - California farmers may have been prescient to worry three years ago when the Homeland Security Department assumed the job of protecting U.S. borders from foreign pests and diseases.
Agricultural inspections at ports of entry subsequently fell markedly between 2002 and 2004, federal investigators now note. The 8 percent decrease occurred even as imports kept rising, and coincided with the Homeland Security Department replacing the Agriculture Department at the inspection stations.
...
Instead of searching 1,200 cargo containers each week at one high-volume port, the inspectors were looking at about 500. The inspectors said the unnamed port director had told them to cut their holds on agricultural cargo.

"I'm to the point where I think the agricultural inspections really need to be transferred back to the Agriculture Department," Nelsen said.

Merced Democrat Dennis Cardoza, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, said Friday he thought it was "too early" to consider relocating the agricultural inspectors again, but he echoed farmers' overall concerns.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/12561248p-13416312c.html

during the first term. if i remember correctly, it coincided with a rise in donations to repubs by the meat industry. (just recalling an article i read a while back)

busiest.

maybe that's what the department of "homeland security" was really created to do? enable terrorism?

sure sounds like something bush would let happen.