And now:Sonja Keohane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Here I go with my same old song, I think they will continue to slaughter bison until everyone agrees that making the YNP herd "brucellosis free" ( I still don't know exactly what that means) is a necessary thing to do. This is what they say: "The safety of U.S. beef is the cattle industry's top priority" It is obvious to me that the YNP bison are are just "in the way" and they are expendable in this effort by the beef industry. <http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/990510/dc_ncba_be_1.html> Monday May 10, 9:30 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: National Cattlemen's Beef Association U.S. Cattlemen Call For EU to Drop Beef Ban Government Must Retaliate If EU Continues to Ban American Beef WASHINGTON, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. cattle producers at a news conference here today called on the European Union (EU) to drop its illegal ban on U.S. beef or face retaliation. <snip> Chuck Schroeder, a cattle producer and the NCBA chief executive officer, said, ``The safety of U.S. beef is the cattle industry's top priority. We have demonstrated this commitment over and over again.'' Schroeder outlined steps taken by U.S. cattle producers over the past 12 years to prevent BSE, or ``mad cow disease,'' in the United States, as well as steps to prevent other animal diseases, such as brucellosis. He highlighted the millions of dollars of investments in solutions to address E. coli O157:H7, much of which is being used in processing plants today. ----end of excerpt------