Day 233 - 26 03 96 - Page 24


 
 

                                                                  DAY 233
 
                                                  HOWARD LYMAN, Examined:
 
 
 
     1        the case that you were aware that there was some kind of
     2        industry investigation, Congress investigation, into this
     3        problem?
     4        A.  Yes.
     5
     6   Q.   What was the opinion of Congress?
     7
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am not interested in that.  I told
     9        Mr. Rampton that I did not want to hear his witnesses
    10        telling me what President Clinton thought of the topic
    11        where the answer was likely to be in favour of McDonald's;
    12        otherwise, he would not have introduced it; and I am not
    13        interested in this.  I will form my own opinion without the
    14        help of Congress, thank you very much.
    15
    16        (To the witness)  No disrespect to your President or your
    17        very fine democratic institutions, but I have to make up my
    18        own mind.  I asked Mr. Rampton on the previous occasion
    19        whether President Clinton was going to write my judgment
    20        for me, and the answer was "no", so I did not want to know
    21        what he thought about it.
    22
    23   THE WITNESS:   The colonies bear no disregard for you.
    24
    25   MR. MORRIS:  Just say what the manifest is?
    26        A.  The manifest, basically, is a document that lists the
    27        cargo, what it is and where it comes from.
    28
    29   Q.   Who keeps hold of that?
    30        A.  The manifest should be held in several copies:
    31        number 1, it would be the company that was doing the
    32        importing; number 2, the company that was doing the
    33        transportation; and number 3, the group that would end up
    34        with the product when it was delivered.
    35
    36   Q.   Continuing to read: "In Montana, I saw thousands of truck
    37        loads of fresh beef imported from Canada; for years most of
    38        it was in hanging sides.  This limited the amount and how
    39        far it could be shipped.  As 'box beef' became the popular
    40        shipping method, the area of the world that could supply it
    41        grew.  Often, the boxes in which the meat was shipped had
    42        no label, and you would have no idea of the country of
    43        origin without the manifest.  I'm not sure any of the meat
    44        came from Central America, but I saw meat that was produced
    45        in Australia which is much further away, so for the
    46        potential for beef to be imported from Central America
    47        certainly existed.
    48
    49        "In Montana, we would occasionally get animals in our
    50        feeding facility that were purchased in Mexico.  These 
    51        animals were purchased to be used as rodeo stock, but when 
    52        they failed to perform or were injured, they would be 
    53        placed in the food supply system.  My cousin is a rodeo
    54        contractor, and every year he makes arrangements with stock
    55        procurers in Mexico to gather acceptable animals for use in
    56        American rodeos."
    57        A.  For someone in the business, it is very easy to tell
    58        the difference of what type of animals are being fed,
    59        whether they are cattle coming from the northern plains,
    60        whether they are coming from what they call okies, or
 
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