Good News--Food Safety Bill Suddenly on Life Support! Maybe
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:54 pm
Sorry for all the messages on this, but as you know, Congress changes rapidly sometimes and this is one
of them. I am not sure I am so optimistic as ANH appears since the House version was even worse than the
Senate version. The optimism seems to rest on the libertarian push coming into the House with people who
support freedom of choice in health matters; ie, free access to nutritional supplements and free choice to
use them and holistic healing protocols. But there are many other Repugs who join forces with big pharma
and big agribiz and support total control of the public via food.
I think it still good to call legislators and demand that any Food Safety bill focus on large corporate farms
and pharmaceutical corporations which is where the problems always lie.
tanya
A message from the Alliance for Natural Health USA
Dear tanya,
The Senate?s controversial FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) now appears to be dead in the water!
As we reported to you yesterday , the Senate passed its version of the Food Safety bill by a margin of 73 to 25, and sent it on to the House of Representatives for approval. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) had previously agreed to accept the Senate?s bill in place of the House?s version, already approved, so this approval was expected to be pro-forma.
But it turns out that Section 107 of the Senate bill contains a revenue-raising (i.e., taxing) provision. And such a provision is unconstitutional: ?All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives,? according to Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution. Because the Senate violated the funding origination clause, the House has implemented a procedure known as ?blue slipping? to block the bill, keeping it out of consideration and sending it back to the Senate.
The only possible ?quick fix? would be a unanimous consent agreement in the Senate to strike that revenue-raising provision from the bill?but Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has already stated that he will oppose, so unanimity will be impossible. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now faced with some tough choices: spend a huge amount of time all over again to deal with this (which is unlikely in a Lame Duck Congress, especially considering how controversial the bill is); or do nothing, and allow the bill to die at the end of this Congress. This will mean a new Food Safety Bill will be introduced next year?but next year?s Congress will be very different from the current one, so we expect that the bill will look very different, and could be much more favorable to the natural health community.
As always, we will keep you posted on any new developments.
Sincerely,
The Alliance for Natural Health USA
Follow ANH-USA on Twitter & Facebook
The Alliance for Natural Health USA
1350 Connecticut Ave NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
Ph: 800.230.2762
www.anh-usa.org
Unsubscribe or change your email preferences
of them. I am not sure I am so optimistic as ANH appears since the House version was even worse than the
Senate version. The optimism seems to rest on the libertarian push coming into the House with people who
support freedom of choice in health matters; ie, free access to nutritional supplements and free choice to
use them and holistic healing protocols. But there are many other Repugs who join forces with big pharma
and big agribiz and support total control of the public via food.
I think it still good to call legislators and demand that any Food Safety bill focus on large corporate farms
and pharmaceutical corporations which is where the problems always lie.
tanya
A message from the Alliance for Natural Health USA
Dear tanya,
The Senate?s controversial FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) now appears to be dead in the water!
As we reported to you yesterday , the Senate passed its version of the Food Safety bill by a margin of 73 to 25, and sent it on to the House of Representatives for approval. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) had previously agreed to accept the Senate?s bill in place of the House?s version, already approved, so this approval was expected to be pro-forma.
But it turns out that Section 107 of the Senate bill contains a revenue-raising (i.e., taxing) provision. And such a provision is unconstitutional: ?All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives,? according to Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution. Because the Senate violated the funding origination clause, the House has implemented a procedure known as ?blue slipping? to block the bill, keeping it out of consideration and sending it back to the Senate.
The only possible ?quick fix? would be a unanimous consent agreement in the Senate to strike that revenue-raising provision from the bill?but Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has already stated that he will oppose, so unanimity will be impossible. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now faced with some tough choices: spend a huge amount of time all over again to deal with this (which is unlikely in a Lame Duck Congress, especially considering how controversial the bill is); or do nothing, and allow the bill to die at the end of this Congress. This will mean a new Food Safety Bill will be introduced next year?but next year?s Congress will be very different from the current one, so we expect that the bill will look very different, and could be much more favorable to the natural health community.
As always, we will keep you posted on any new developments.
Sincerely,
The Alliance for Natural Health USA
Follow ANH-USA on Twitter & Facebook
The Alliance for Natural Health USA
1350 Connecticut Ave NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
Ph: 800.230.2762
www.anh-usa.org
Unsubscribe or change your email preferences