Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) introduced the “Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act.” Her bill would:

• Phase out non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics in livestock, unless manufacturers can show they pose no danger to the public health.

• Require the same standard of new applications for approval of animal antibiotics. • Provide federal payments to farmers to defray costs of switching to antibiotic-free production, with a preference to family farms.

• Authorize grants for research and demonstration programs on reducing use of antibiotics in the raising of livestock.

• Require manufacturers to report the amounts of antibiotics they supply for animal use, animals receiving them and the uses for which they're supplied.

• Not restrict use of antibiotics to treat sick or non-food animals.

Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate by Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).