The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has placed the power of the meat and poultry industry above the value of human life by scuttling funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposed changes in meat inspection standards.

Even in the midst of worrisome statistics that blame 4,000 deaths and 5 million illnesses each year on contaminated meat, the committee decided the meat industry was under-represented in the creation of the proposal. The meat industry’s input, apparently, is much more important than protecting the lives of American consumers.

There has been little reform in meat and poultry inspections since 1906. Lawmakers seem to be saying, if it was good enough in 1906, it’s good enough for us now. Strangely, though, they are also claiming that there is wide support for the proposal. The only reason, then, to scrap the reforms is to bow to meat industry pressure.

The agriculture appropriations bill, of which the inspection reforms are a part, is heading to the House floor for a vote. In spite of the potential damage to the egos of meat industry executives, lawmakers must find a way to make the changes and save lives.