A landmark piece of legislation passed during the lame duck session that puts more regulations in place to guard our country’s food supply than any law in many decades.
And the GOP is going to try to make sure the food safety law doesn’t get funded.
The legislation would greatly strengthen the regulatory hand of the Food and Drug Administration, giving it new authority to order mandatory recalls and to require importers to show that the food they get from foreign suppliers is safe. Kathleen Sebelius, Mr. Obama’s health secretary, told reporters in a conference call set up by the White House on Monday that the idea is for “sea bass from Chile’’ to meet the same safety standards “as lobster that we get out of the shores of Maine.’’The bill, which has the backing of food-safety advocates and industry groups, passed the Senate with considerable bipartisan support. Ms. Sebelius called it, “the most significant food safety law of the last 100 years.” Under the current system, the F.D.A. simply tracks outbreaks after they occur; the new law will change the agency’s mission to focus on preventing outbreaks before they happen.
But with Republicans, who are set to take control of the House when the new Congress convenes on Wednesday, vowing to slash domestic spending on a variety of fronts, advocates fear lawmakers will not appropriate the full amount necessary to put the law into effect.
If it prevents Democrats including President Obama from scoring a victory of any kind, the Republicans will attempt to block it. That is clearly more important than the safety of our citizens and the food they eat.
This is what a majority of Americans voted for on November 2nd, 2010. The question is this: were they stupid or just duped?
I’ll go with “both”.
I’m just sayin’…
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