Members of Congress want answers from the USDA about that agency ending cyclospora research, in light of the huge outbreaks of that pathogen this summer. U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Steny Hoyer (MD-05), Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), and Glenn Ivey (MD-04) along with U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), all Democrats, sent the letter to the USDA on September 17, 2026.
Cyclospora has sickened tens of thousands, if not millions, of Americans this year. Thousands have been hospitalized, and two people who lived in Michigan have died. The issue is that the USDA is closing BARC, the largest and most diversified agricultural research complex in the world.
The letter states, in part, “The proposal to decommission BARC will do nothing but disrupt this important work, endanger Americans’ health and safety, and harm our national security. Therefore, we request that USDA immediately cease its efforts to close BARC and halt its reorganization before it results in any more costly mistakes.”
BARC is the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center in Maryland. Funding ended based on the advice Congress got from the USDA that despite the cuts made by this administration, researchers working on Cyclosporaw projects would continue.
Staff has refused to move to Iowa to continue research. The questions asked in the letter include:
Can they confirm reporting that all staff has declined to relocate?
How many other research projects will lose scientific staff?
How will the USDA ensure that research programs at BARC remain “uninterrupted”?
They also want to know the USDA’s specific and detailed plan to relocate cyclospora research, including whether labs have the capacity to continue this research. And they want to know if the USDA will be transporting highly pathogenic organisms across the country as part of this reorganization.
Since 2016, USDA has invested over $170,000,000 in BARC upgrades and repairs, including a $32,000,000 renovation of BARC’s food safety lab. This is the beat platform to perform food safety research, and the letter states that “the proposal to decommission BARC will do nothing but disrupt this important work, endanger Americans’ health and safety, and harm our national security.”
