Transcript of Congressman Hinchey's Remarks on House Floor - March 8, 2006

Mr. Speaker, this bill is just another example of why the people of this country need to fear this Congress and the people who lead it. What this bill does is preempt State laws on food safety.

We have people who come down here to the floor of the House and argue for States rights. Now they present to us a bill which denies States rights; denies the States the ability to protect their citizens by watching the food that they eat. All of those State laws are going to be washed away by this legislation. It is probably even unconstitutional. The Constitution provides the States with the authority to protect its citizens. But we are now hearing from the majority party that they want to pass a law which denies States that right. No longer will they be able to protect their citizens.

Eighty percent of our Nation's food safety inspection is regulated by State and local entities. As we have heard, there are 200 laws. It has taken us more than 200 years to get those 200 laws in almost 50 States. Those laws protect our people. Now they are going to turn that over to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is not adequately protecting the people of our country today with regard to drug safety. The FDA is too close to the pharmaceutical companies. Yet now they are going to pass a bill which stops the States from protecting citizens, whether they are eating in a cafeteria, a lunchroom, a hospital, or some other situation, from passing a law that is going to make certain that the food that they are eating there is not going to cause them to be ill, maybe poison them in some way.

That is what they want to do, have the Federal Government step in here on top of the States, deny the States the right that they have under the Constitution to protect the health and safety and welfare of their citizens by passing legislation which preempts all of those State laws. This is a very bad idea and it must be defeated.