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AGRP
12-20-2010, 04:58 PM
In an unexpected move yesterday (http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/food-safety/134447-in-sunday-evening-surprise-senate-passes-food-safety-bill-by-unanimous-consent), Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell crafted a backroom deal to attach S. 510, the so-called "Food Safety" bill as a substitute amendment to H.R. 2751, and it passed by unanimous consent.

The Republicans could have easily halted its passage by objecting to the measure, and there is little chance Reid would have pushed it further due to time constraints.

Instead, the Republican minority didn't even muster up a whimper, and the lead opposition to the bill, Senator Coburn, apparently dropped his opposition at the last minute when it really counted.

Aside from the more obvious dangers of continuing to empower Obama's radical regulatory agenda and the FDA, the Republican minority consented to spending more than $1 billion over the next five years to implement duplicative, wasteful regulations that weren't necessary in the first place.

The bill will now move to the House with a vote on final passage likely to come tomorrow. Contact your Representative and urge them to oppose H.R. 2751, the misnamed "Food Safety Modernization Act."

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=39890

If you don't already know the phone number of your representatives in the House, the capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. Call that and they will connect you to your members of Congress.

Other ways to help: http://www.thenorthwestreport.com/activism/

FSP-Rebel
12-20-2010, 05:00 PM
Thanks a lot Mitch and what a surprise to see Coburn cave in. Schmucks, the both of them. That said, already contacted my rep.

Thomas
12-20-2010, 05:25 PM
contacted my rep!

dannno
12-20-2010, 05:29 PM
Is this the version that exempts small farms and farmer's markets? Either way I don't agree with it, but that would be a better version to pass if it has to.

cindy25
12-20-2010, 06:55 PM
hopefully with Rand the days unanimous anything are over soon

Noob
12-21-2010, 04:40 AM
Thanks a lot Mitch and what a surprise to see Coburn cave in. Schmucks, the both of them. That said, already contacted my rep.
If it was up to Coburn Tobacco and smoking would be out right ban.

Lucille
12-21-2010, 08:42 AM
Got this email from Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

TALKING POINTS

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act is fundamentally flawed and is not in the best interest of small farmers, especially those who produce raw milk. The Act is a major threat to the local food movement.
1. FDA does not respect individuals' rights to obtain healthy, quality foods of their choice. The agency has stated as a matter of public record, that:

"There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food."

"Plaintiffs' assertion of a 'fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families' is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish."


FDA has even participated in armed raids on small-scale co-ops and membership organizations. This agency should not be given any additional power.


2. FDA has adequate powers under existing law to ensure food safety and effectively deal with foodborne illness outbreaks. FDA has power to inspect, power to detain product and can readily obtain court orders to seize adulterated or misbranded food products or enjoin them from being sold. The problem isn't that FDA needs more power; it's that FDA does not effectively use the power it currently has. The agency has power to inspect imported food yet inspects only 1% of food coming into this country from outside our borders.


3. The Act does nothing to address many significant food safety problems in this country, such as those resulting from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and various contaminants (e.g., BPA, pesticides, herbicides, etc.).


4. FDA has used its existing power to benefit the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries at the expense of public health (e.g., allowing the overuse of antibiotics in confined animal feeding operations and refusing to require labeling for genetically-modified foods). This Act does not address the fundamental problems at this agency in order to truly protect public health.

5. The Act will expand FDA's involvement in regulating food in intra-state commerce, further interfering with local communities. State and local governments are more than capable of handling any problems related to food in intrastate commerce. All the major outbreaks of foodborne illness involve either imported food or food in inter-state commerce.



6. The Act will hurt our ability as a nation to be self-sufficient in food production because it has more lenient inspection requirements for foreign than domestic producers creating an unfair advantage for food imports. Giving an advantage to foreign producers will only increase the amount of food imported into this country that does not meet our domestic standards. The Act does not address food security--the ability of a country to produce enough food to meet its own needs.

TonySutton
12-21-2010, 09:06 AM
We need to start a movement similar to the Montana Firearms Freedom Act and exclude food produced in state A from federal regulations as long as the food remains in state A!

hahaha just read Gunny's thread, so yes we need to continue the movement gunny started!