Liveblogging Food Safety Debate

Jerry Moran speaking (4.00 / 2)

He hates this bill. He's already come out against it. He wants to refer the bill to the Ag Committee to fix the problems in the bill (my note to Rep. Moran... things get worse in the Ag Committee, not better). He wants the bill to be lighter on "production" agriculture (aka toxic chemical industrial ag). Note to him on this: Collin Peterson, chair of the Ag Committee, Big Ag Whore, has already worked out a compromise with the Energy & Commerce committee to help out Big Ag.

Moran is concerned about the grain industry and the bill's impact on it.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 18:56:14 PM UTC

Moran calls the fees in the bill (4.00 / 2)

"revenue raising tax" - he thinks this bill is adding unnecessary bureaucracy to the grain industry, which he says is already regulated by the USDA.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 18:57:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Lucas (R-OK) is now speaking (4.00 / 2)

He's against the bill. He notes that yesterday members of both parties rejected the bill. That may be true BUT yesterday a 2/3 majority was required and they were only 6 votes short. The bill got yes votes from 64% of Congress.

He says that we have the safest food supply in the world. That may be (although I don't quite believe it) but if people are dying from our food, shouldn't we want to make it even better?

He doesn't want the FDA to have more power. he also doesn't like the FDA's right in the bill to set on farm production standards - i.e. the FDA telling farmers how to farm. I don't like that part of the bill either.

He says this bill is "trying to produce food from a bureaucrats chair in Washington DC."

He's ticked at the quarantine provision in the bill, as well as the fees assessed by the FDA. He says that this was a rush process to pass this bill (despite the fact that the hearings leading to the bill began last winter) and says that all of the committees with jurisdiction were not able to participate. That may be, but Collin Peterson could have insisted that the Ag Committee got involved and he didn't - instead he worked out a compromise to meet his needs.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:02:28 PM UTC

"Safest food supply in the world"... (0.00 / 0)

Agreed - I want to see numbers on that.  That phrase is bandied about every time this subject comes up, and I think they can only get away with it because there probably aren't any significant in-depth studies on it.  It's just one of those "everybody knows" things...

I'd love to see if that's actually true...

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by: JayinPortland @ Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 07:40:22 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Louise Slaughter speaking (4.00 / 2)

If everyone's doing so well then why are people getting sick and dying from our food? she says.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:03:19 PM UTC

Sam Farr speaking (4.00 / 2)

He represents Salinas Valley - salad bowl capital of the world.

He says that the lettuce isn't boiled before eating, so you need to be very careful with it. He noted the E. coli problems from his district in recent years. He said the problems we have in food safety is under the FDA. Poultry/meat inspection is under USDA. What you hear in this bill is that we need to have national standards. The authority lies with the FDA (other than meat and poultry). he said that he's been working with Dingell to deal with the nuances of small, organic farms, farmers markets, etc. He said despite the fear of growers of having the FDA involved (who doesn't know about farming) but he says they still want national standards. He said we need to work in a constructive way - an equal playing field, not a split between USDA and FDA.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:05:46 PM UTC

Glenn Thompson (R-PA) now speaking (4.00 / 2)

he says a safe and abundant food supply is important (incl for national security). we have the "safest food supply in the world" and improvements are needed, but this bill won't do anything. He says it will hurt our farms. He is calling out the fees assessed to farms. (That's kind of bogus because the fees aren't actually for farms, unless they do processing.) He also says that USDA does good work on food safety so don't get the FDA involved too. he has more confidence in USDA than FDA. He also doesnt like the process used to write/pass the bill because it wasn't considered by the Ag Committee.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:09:01 PM UTC

John Dingell speaking (D-MI) (4.00 / 2)

He represents farmers and consumers. Almost all have some farmers and all of us represent consumers, he says. The safety of BOTH is important. Understand that FDA has been starved of authority and money for a long time. The last meaningful reform of FDA occurred in 1938. America has safest food in the world but it's not as safe as it should be. Much of the lack of food safety is because of foreign producers, whose food cannot be traced and checked. He brings up the pepper salmonella problem from last year, and calls out lack of traceability as the problem. Plus, he says, we have problems with seafood/shellfish, leafy greens, because FDA can't control what enters this country, because FDA also doesn't have authority to properly deal with problems. FDA doesnt have sufficient authority to focus on SPECIFIC wrongdoers and wrongdoing so every American producer is hurt. He wants FDA to address this by a focus effort.

He said - we have assiduously avoided any intrusion into the authority of the USDA. Extensive conversations were held w/ the Ag Committee and achieved the approval of Ag Comm. chair Collin Peterson, who spoke yesterday in favor of the bill.

The bill requires registration from producers and manufacturers because without that, FDA doesn't know who is doing what, and doesn't know if good manufacturing practices are applied by industry. The Chinese are notoriously sloppy in their handling of food (melamine, for example) and so if now the manufacturer or the processor pays no fee and does not register, he can't bring the food into this country to poison Americans.

Dingell brings up peanut scare, 8 people died. The result is that people were sickened. Americans are dying because FDA doesn't have authority to protect them and American ag and food producers are being HURT because of this. The bill will raise money that producers are contributing, not only to protect consumers but also protect industry from unfair competition. The bill helps us trace food from farm to fork - extremely important. He says this is a "balanced, honest, fair, and friendly" effort to give everyone protection FDA can give.

OK now Dingell is thanking Louise Slaughter. He says the bill is NOT a new piece of legislation. "It's old enough to vote." It's gone through some iterations, but the changes about which they complain, but those changes were made to meet the concerns of the ag committee and those of producers, manufacturers, and growers.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:17:10 PM UTC

Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA) (4.00 / 2)

He's the former Ag Committee chair. He says this bill does little of anything to enhance food safety. he says it doesnt' require the FDA to spend one extra penny on food safety but imposes burdens on small businesses without holding FDA accountable. The fees create a "federal license" to be in the food business, he says. This is an example of broadening the size and scope of government (I wonder how he voted on FISA, if he's so opposed to big government?).

He says the changes made to meet Collin Peterson's needs are not sufficient. He doesn't want the federal govt telling farmers how to do their jobs. He says registration was initially proposed under the bioterrorism act of 2002 but it's turned into a federal license by charging "exorbitant fees" and allowing the govt to suspend registration.

He also doesnt like traceability, which he says does not make food safer.

Record keeping requirements are also a regulatory burden. The language lacks protections from disclosure of proprietary information.

He doesnt like the quarantine provision. No consideration is given to economic losses suffered by food producers, processors, and distributors in the quarantined area. he says the ag committee will later offer something to correct this and he hopes everyone will support that.

He said the FDA has no way to indemnify producers for their losses if it finds out that it had wrongly quarantined an area.

He says this bill lets the FDA act on suspicion to prevent a producer from selling food, and there's no consideration for how to compensate the producer if the FDA was wrong.

He opposes everyone to oppose the bill.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:21:56 PM UTC

Great stuff, Jill (4.00 / 2)

Thanks for doing this!

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:26:59 PM UTC

Rep. Foxx is speaking (4.00 / 2)

She's bitching about the House rules ("the closed rule process") and says it's a bipartisan concern. She calls out the Dems for stifling debate. The Dems in charge are denying others the ability to offer improvements to legislation, she says. She says the Dems in charge are limiting what ideas can be debated on the floor and what constituents are represented in the House.

This is a very coherent argument for a wingnut like Foxx. I'm kind of ashamed that I agree with her, but I do.

She goes on to say that this isn't a good bill. This bill, she says, does little to enhance food safety. She wants to call attention to the State of NC - "To be, rather than to seem." She feels that the bill is intended to look like it's doing a lot without actually doing very much. She says the FDA isn't required to spend one extra dime on inspecting food but it gives unprecedented authority to the FDA. She names a bunch of provision she doesn't like. She says the fees are essentially a tax on consumers by increasing the price of food (I disagree with that). She says it leaves fruit & veg producers subject to regulatory burdens by having the FDA dictate to farmers how they should farm (I agree with her here - that's a bad part of the bill). She compares the bill to the tactics of the former USSR.

She also doesn't like the traceability provision in the bill. She says this bill does not explain how far back foods have to be traced or how that works for food w multiple ingredients and its unclear how costly it will be. She also doesn't like the penalties for people who violate the bill. And now she's back to complaining about the fees. She says even though farms are technically exempt, the FDA has defined farms very narrowly (thats correct - I'm with her there). She says that this could serve as a barrier to getting into business, esp in tough economic times (I agree with this too). She also complains that the bill was never vetted by the Ag committee.

She says this bill will cost taxpayers nearly $2.2 bil over 5 years. She says the govt is borrowing and spending too much. The federal government does not reflect the common sense of the American people, by spending more, increasing the federal deficit on the backs of our children and grandchildren. She says we can no longer blame our deficit on the previous administration, it's the fault of the Democrats. Here she's just trying to score cheap political points against the Dems, in my opinion.  

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:30:05 PM UTC

Rep Slaughter is speaking last (4.00 / 2)

Every year 76 mil Americans get ill from contaminated food and 5000 die. As a scientist, she would like to feel pride and confidence in the FDA. She urges a yes vote on the bill.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:30:46 PM UTC

They are voting on the rule (4.00 / 2)

it was a voice vote and they said the Ayes have it, but then Foxx asked for... something. I'm having a hard time understanding what's going on but I think she's asking for them to actually do a roll call vote perhaps?

Now they are reading a resolution of some sort.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:32:43 PM UTC

I'm on pins and needles (4.00 / 2)

Well, maybe not... but it's mildly suspenseful. :)

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:35:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Now they are taking a 15 min vote (4.00 / 2)

which is a vote on 4 things, including food safety.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 19:34:24 PM UTC