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Congress 
Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 05:36:00 AM PDT
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Congressman Leonard Boswell (D, IA-03) used to be a full-time farmer and still owns a farm that raises cattle. On July 13 he testified before the House Committee on Rules in connection with H.R. 1549, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009. I've posted the full text of his testimony after the jump, but here are some highlights of the case he made against new limits on routine use of antibiotics by livestock producers:
1. Science doesn't support blaming the livestock industry for antibiotic resistance. "Pound for pound, humans and their pets use 10 times the amount of antibiotics used in food animal production."
2. "America's livestock, dairy and poultry producers [...] are committed to using antibiotics responsibly and have developed responsible-use guidelines for each of their respective industries."
3. By removing some classes of antibiotics from the market, H.R. 1549 "would require antibiotic sponsors to prove again what has already been proven during their initial FDA approval" and would leave livestock producers with "few, if any, medicines to prevent and control animal disease."
4. Denmark has seen more disease and piglet mortality in its swine herd since a ban on preventive and growth-promoting use of antibiotics went into effect. That has increased the use of therapeutic antibiotics to treat sick animals.
5. Pigs that have been sick during their lives "have a greater presence of food-safety pathogens on their carcasses." Public health could be undermined if we eliminate animal antibiotics.
6. The 2008 Farm Bill provided for more USDA research on antibiotic resistance, and the Animal Drug User Fee Amendments of 2008 require the FDA to collect more information about antibiotic sales. Those provisions should be allowed to work before Congress removes products from the market, as H.R. 1549 would.
Post any relevant comments or rebuttals in this thread.
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Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 20:00:00 PM PDT
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Lately I've been focusing on two bills in Congress that might actually pass! It looks REALLY good for both of them. One would update the nutrition standards of the food that is allowed in schools for the first time since 1978. The second is a major food safety reform, the biggest since 1938. Obviously, both bills are BADLY needed.
No doubt the public health community, consumer advocates, parents, doctors, etc, have been for these reforms for quite a while. Big business was against them, and until now, they always got their way. But you know what's sad? It seems that the ONLY reason this stuff is (probably) going to pass now is because Big Business is either supporting the bills, or at least not actively opposing them. In other words, with a major Democratic majority, doing the right thing still isn't happening just because it's the right thing to do - and Big Business still calls the shots.
Details below.
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Fri May 15, 2009 at 08:55:54 AM PDT
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At Mother Talkers, prgrsvmama26 brings us the news that Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York will reintroduce the Breastfeeding Promotion Act in June. Among other things, this bill would
* Add breastfeeding mothers in the workplace as a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964
* Provide incentives for employers to have private lactation areas for workers
* Create a performance standard for breastpump equipment
* Create tax deductions for pumping equipment
Here is some information about the economic benefits (for employers as well as employees) of helping working mothers to breastfeed.
Here's how you can help Representative Maloney:
1. Ask your Congress-critter to co-sponsor the bill.
2. If you live close to Washington, D.C., please plan to attend a press conference about the bill on June 3rd at 11:30 am on the Cannon Terrace at the Cannon Office Building, Independence Avenue and 1st Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. Please RSVP to wchappel@myexcel.com with the number of adults/babies/children attending.
3. After the press conference, visit your representative's office to ask them to support the bill.
4. E-mail wchappel@myexcel.com immediately "if you have a workplace lactation discrimination story you would like to share at the press conference."
On a related note, I just learned last week that many health insurance plans cover the purchase of a breast pump. Pregnant women with insurance should look into this, because a quality breast pump can easily cost $300.
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Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 00:47:45 AM PDT
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( - promoted by JayinPortland)
Joshua Segall may be the first ever Farmers' Market Candidate for Congress. He runs a program called Homegrown Alabama that focuses on getting schools to buy their food from farmers.
Joshua was defeated in his first attempt to unseat Bush-Republican Representative Mike Rogers last fall. But this week the rematch was announced.
"It's time for a new direction. I am a fiscal conservative who will work to create and attract 21st Century jobs to east Alabama so that hardworking people can get ahead," said Segall.
"Alabama is suffering under irresponsible policies that bail out greedy executives who created this mess and leave hardworking Alabama families holding the bag. Rogers supported the Wall Street bailout, but did nothing for Main Street Alabama. He voted to send Alabama jobs overseas, when what we needed was a plan to create good jobs at home. It's time to stand up to special interest politics and put Alabama families first once again," said Segall.
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Tue Dec 09, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PST
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CREW - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - released a list of the most embarrassing re-elected members of Congress. Note that William Jefferson's name is NOT on the list... his very Democratic district voted him out in favor of his Republican opponent. Yay!
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA)
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
In the words of CREW, this list includes "those elected officials who have misused their position through illegal, unethical or just plain outrageous conduct." You can see the full report on what they did to earn their spots on the list here.
Note that Gary Miller's name is on the list. He's from CA-42 in Orange County, the district where my friend Ron Shepston ran in the Democratic primary this past election cycle. Unfortunately, the primary winner Ed Chau was not able to take out the corrupt incumbent Miller, despite the overall Democratic landslide around the nation in 2008. What will it take for America to throw these bums out????
Oh, by the way... no relation between me and Laura Richardson. I swear.
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Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 16:39:03 PM PST
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Now that all is said and done, what will become of the committees that make our food policy? Mostly, nothing. No change. Particularly in the Senate. I'm still hoping we can say goodbye to Norm Coleman on the Ag Committee but that's about it. And, of course, Larry Craig will no longer sit on the Ag Appropriations sub-committee.
Unlike the Senate, the House DOES have some turnover - not a ton, but some. Here's who will no longer be with us in the 111th Congress:
Ag Committee
Nancy Boyda (D-KS)
Nick Lampson (D-TX)
Tim Mahoney (D-FL)
Robin Hayes (R-NC)
Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Randy Kuhl (R-NY)
Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Let's hope we can replace these seven with a few folks who actually support organic agriculture!
Ag Appropriations Sub-Committee
Ray LaHood (R-IL)
Education and Labor Committee
Ric Keller (R-FL)
Randy Kuhl (R-NY)
David Davis (R-TN)
Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Getting Ric Keller off that committee is a WONDERFUL thing. I'm sure nobody will miss him - except for the fast food companies.
All in all though, it was rather shocking going through these names on Election Day and actually seeing how little turnover there really is in our elected representatives. Most incumbents win their elections. I'm sure these committees will change a little more than this in the end, but really for the most part, their composition will stay the same.
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Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 02:16:09 AM PDT
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Today I attended an excellent session at the 2nd annual Consumers Union Activist Summit about how to lobby an issue to Congress. I had a general idea about the topic (i.e. you should write your representatives about an issue if you care about it) but they did a fabulous job filling me in with the details I need to know to be more effective. Here's what I learned.
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Wed Sep 17, 2008 at 20:30:29 PM PDT
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As headline after headline frightens Americans about the safety of our food supply, Big Ag and legislators seem determined to carry on with the same old flawed approach. Rather than look at the underlying reasons for the recurring problems -- such as unhealthy factory farm practices and consolidation of food processing -- they're pushing a new sound-bite solution: "farm to fork traceability." But a coalition of organizations is demanding that Congress stop funding a program that will drive family farms out of business in the pursuit of this false promise.
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