| You may recall that Senate Democrats imperiled the food safety bill, S510, by forgetting to put revenue-raising language in a bill that originated in the House of Representatives. Senate leaders tried to salvage the situation by adding the food safety language to the massive ominbus spending bill Congress was expected to approve last week. However, Senate Republicans torpedoed the omnibus bill on Friday, leaving few options for getting the food safety bill to President Barack Obama's desk before the new Congress convenes.
Today Jamie Dupree reported that the Senate took the food safety language from the "continuing resolution" on spending that had already passed the House and added it to "a House-passed Cash for Clunkers" bill. The Senate then approved the new bill by unanimous consent. Amazingly, no Republican gummed up the works on that, not even the food safety bill's deadly enemy Tom Coburn. The bill now goes back to the House, where Dupree says approval is expected this week.
UPDATE: The Hill's Alexander Bolton and Matthew Jaffe of ABC News report on the Senate maneuvering.
I had almost given up on this bill passing. It's not perfect, but it's a good step forward. |
