I recently met with catfish farmers in southeast Arkansas, and I can tell my colleagues that catfish producers in my district are upset that so-called catfish are being dumped into our markets from Vietnam and sold as farm- raised catfish. The truth is that it is not farm raised, and I am not even sure it is catfish. Last year, imports of Vietnamese catfish totaled 7 million pounds, more than triple the 2 million pounds imported in 1999 and more than 12 times the 575,000 pounds imported in 1998. 

   In Vietnam, these so-called catfish, also known as basa, can be produced at a much lower cost, due to cheap labor and less stringent environmental regulations. In fact, many of these fish are grown in floating cages in the Mekong River, exposing the fish to pollutants and other conditions. They are then dumped into American markets and often marketed as farm-raised catfish. Many catfish producers believe that these imports have taken away as much as 10 percent of our markets here at home. 

   It is really quite simple. Farmers do not mind competition, but they do mind when the competition is unfair and untruthful. This is why today my colleagues, including the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. BERRY), the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. SHOWS), and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. PICKERING) introduced, along with me, a bipartisan bill, H.R. 2439, the Ross-Berry-Pickering bill, that would amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require retailers to inform consumers of the country of origin of the fish that they sell. 

   Under the bill, all fish would be covered. Each retailer would be required to notify the consumer at the final point of sale of the country of origin of the fish. And a fish product could only be designated as being from the United States if it is from a farm-raised fish that is exclusively born, raised, and processed in the United States. 

   When our consumers go into the store and ask for farm-raised catfish, they deserve to know what they are getting is actually farm raised and catfish. By letting consumers know where the product is coming from, this bill will encourage the people in Arkansas and all across America to buy catfish grown by our farm families, not fish grown in a polluted river in another country. 

   I urge my colleagues to join me in protecting consumers and to support a level playing field for America's farm-raised fish producers by supporting this measure.