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Dear Friend,
As you know, I have been fighting for more than a year to convince Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to keep his promise to grant a vote on the Castle-DeGette Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810) that passed the House last year with broad bi-partisan support. Yesterday, the Senator did just that and scheduled a vote on H.R. 810. I would like to thank Senator Frist for brokering this very difficult agreement. There is overwhelming bi-partisan support for expanding stem cell research which will help extend or save the lives of millions of Americans. I am confident it will pass the Senate.
You can read more here:
DeGette's stem-cell bill survives in Senate; vote promised
Denver Post – June 30, 2006
Read Article
In other news, I introduced two bills that will go a long way towards safeguarding the nation’s food supply. The first bill, the SAFER (Safe And Fair Enforcement & Recall for) Meat, Poultry and Food Act, would give the USDA and FDA the authority to force a recall of contaminated meat and poultry. Under current law, recalls are completely voluntary even if public health is at risk. The second bill, the TRACE (Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination) Act, would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a tracing system to track meat products from their animal origins to the grocery store, enabling faster recall in the event of contamination. I will keep you updated on the progress of both bills.
Lastly, the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held two more hearings in our ongoing series, “Making the Internet Safe for Kids.” These hearings focused on subscriber data retention by internet service providers (ISPs) and social networking sites. We heard from several witnesses, including representatives from Comcast, Verizon, MySpace and Facebook. During the hearings more than one company announced that, in part due to Congressional pressure, they would increase the amount of time they retain certain subscriber data. Also, I was able to secure an additional $3 million for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a Federal-local partnership that helps track down the perpetrators of online child exploitation.
You can read more about this at:
Legislating Net Protections for Children
NPR: News & Notes with Ed Gordon - June 30, 2006
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=11
Lawmakers to Tackle Online Child Porn
Washington Post - Tuesday, June 27, 2006
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/27/AR2006062701216.html
I hope you have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July holiday, and as always, I will continue to advocate for you on the important issues facing our country.
Warmest Regards,
Diana
How to Contact Me
Comments: As always, if you have comments or concerns about the e-Newsletter, please e-mail me at degettenews@mail.house.gov. If you would like to contact me or my office for any other reason, you can also always call my office in Denver at (303) 844-4988 or Washington, DC at (202) 225-4431.
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